A Sense of Belonging
by hogwartsalumni
Summary: DL Please Read & Review! My 1st Fan FicWill Danny and Lindsay grow closer or will they fall apart? Please note: I have revised Chapter 1 to correct grammatical errors. Complete
1. 2 am

A Sense of Belonging….

A/N: I do not own CSI: NY, any of the characters or anything that may be real or copy-righted in this story. I am making no profit off this story, just writing it because I love to write.

Danny stared at the ballistics computer, his face tight with concentration, as if he was willing it to find a match. It was like 2 am, and Danny was working on his 3rd straight shift. He knew he should have just started the computer and gone home, the results would have been waiting for him in the morning, but Danny just couldn't get the look of the victim out of his mind. It was the look of fear, of betrayal, and it drove Danny to find, no matter what the length, the kind of person who could do a thing like this. He rested his head in his hands as the computer continued to compare striations of different bullets in the system.

Lindsay walked passed the ballistics lab on her way to the locker room to get her stuff and go home. It had been a long, excruciating shift, as it always is when children are involved. Luckily, the case had been pretty open and shut, though it didn't make the pain for the victims' family fade any faster.

She was surprised to see anyone else in the building, let alone the lab area, especially Danny Messer. She leaned against the doorframe, watching him. If he wouldn't be so damn annoying all the time, he was actually pretty cute, she thought to herself.

"You know just because you're sitting next to the computer doesn't mean it's going to work any faster" she said breaking the silence, and startling him.

"Wha? Oh it's you Montana" Danny replied dryly, "Yeah well I thought, being as good looking as I am, it might be worth a shot. It might want to impress me." He gave her a smile, and ran his fingers through his hair.

"Don't flatter yourself Messer." Lindsay shot back, "Still no luck on the bullet casing yet huh?" She said as she walked over to the computer and looked at what he was running.

"No and it's really upsetting me. I know, I'm absolutely positive that this can't be a random act" He answered her, his New York accent thick. He started to pace the lab out of frustration. He stared at Lindsay, noting her casual clothes and her hair was up in a casual fashion. She looked like she belonged on a runway or in a magazine, anywhere but a forensic lab.

"Hey Lindsay --" he started

"Did you just call me Lindsay? Not Monroe? Not Montana? Not new girl? What did I do wrong?" Lindsay asked her defenses up. She didn't know if she could trust Danny, regardless of how cute he is.

"Nothing, never mind. You should head home, it's late or early…whatever you want to call it." Danny replied. Geez, I'm an idiot he thought to himself.

"Danny, wait. I'm sorry. I'm just not used to hearing my first name come out of your mouth. Tell you what, since you need to leave this lab for awhile or Mac will have your butt, why don't we go grab breakfast? And, since you're the New York City expert, I'll let your pick the restaurant and I'll even let you buy." Lindsay smiled at him, "What'd you say?"

Danny stared at her. She was standing at an angle, looking over her shoulder at him. Even at 2am, she looked great…her outfit showed off her curves in all the right places and her pants hugged her in perfectly…He started to wonder if her butt was as round as her pants made it look and if she dressed this way on purpose. What was he doing? She was his **_co-worker_** for crying out loud! He couldn't start to have these thoughts!

"Danny? You ok?" She broke into his thoughts, and was staring at him, "Breakfast…you choosing…you buying….are we going…remember any of that?"

"Yeah, yeah. Let's go. I know this great little place. It's never real busy." He finished, hoping that his face didn't give away his thoughts.

About 30 minutes later, Danny and Lindsay had arrived at Mesterpiero's. Lindsay had fallen asleep on the way there, and Danny was hesitant about waking her up. She looked gorgeous, just sitting there, her eyes closed and a slight smile on her face. Danny wondered if she was dreaming or not. However, after a few minutes, Danny's stomach won out by grumbling loudly. He leaned over, taking in the scent of her hair. She smelled like raspberries.  
"Lindsay, we're here. Time for breakfast." He whispered in her ear.

"Danny, just a few more minutes, please…It feels like we just fell asleep" she answered softly. Well guess that answers the dreaming question, Danny thought to himself, smiling.

"Lindsay, come on it's time for breakfast. We're here." Danny said again, trying to wake her. He put his hand on her arm gently rubbing it.

"Wha? Huh?" Lindsay awoke with a jolt, "What?"

"We're here. Ready for breakfast?" Danny asked getting out of his SUV. He walked over to her side and opened the door for her. "Ready for the best breakfast of your life Sleeping Beauty?" He asked as he offered her his hand.


	2. Breakfast

A/N: Same disclosures apply as Chap 1

Danny and Lindsay walked into the restaurant, and waited to be seated. Danny took Lindsay's coat and hung it up with his.  
"Thanks Danny." Lindsay said, as the waitress walked over to them.  
"2?" she asked politely.

"Yes, and could we have a booth please?" Danny answered.

"Sure," answered the waitress, whose nametag read Iris, "Follow me please."

Danny and Lindsay followed Iris to a booth on the far side of the restaurant. It was kind of private, out of the way but then again the restaurant wasn't really busy at the moment. Iris gave them menus after they had sat down and told them that she would be right back to get their order.

"Danny this place is great," said Lindsay, "I would have never found it in a million years. It's almost like a restaurant that I used to always eat at in Montana." She smiled at him. He was almost being nice, she thought, wonder if he wants something. "Guess I'd better look at the menu, huh?" she said and started to look over her choices.

Danny watched her for awhile, he already knew what he was going to have – the same thing he had every time he came here. Could she have a more beautiful smile, he said to himself, and why does she have to smile so much? I wonder what drove her to become a CSI, she certainly doesn't look the part. Danny was getting lost in his thoughts again.

Iris came back, bringing them ice water, and taking their orders (Danny ordered eggs benedict, and an English muffin with cream cheese – Lindsay ordered a bowl of cream of potato soup and a Caesar salad with chicken strips). She smiled at the couple, how cute are they she thought. She had seen the guy before; she wondered how long he would be coming here alone.

"Cream of potato soup at," Danny looked at his watch, "3:15am?" He smirked at her, like they now shared a secret.

"What?" she replied casually, "I'm not a big breakfast person – I prefer to food that doesn't come out of an animals' butt." She finished simply and looked at him.

"But you'll eat chicken? Do you eat steak?" he questioned her, staring at her. God, she has the most chocolate brown beautiful eyes. I could get lost in them so easily, he thought.

"What?" asked Lindsay, "Why do you keep staring at me? Do I have something on my face?" She started wiping at her face with her napkin, trying to get a look at her reflection in the window.

"No, Monroe – you don't have anything on your face. I was just wondering what made you become a CSI? Certainly it's not the hours or the co-workers." He stated. It's something that Danny had wanted to ask her for weeks, ever since she cut off a suspect. Danny had agreed with Mac, what they fed people out in Montana, because it sure did a body good. Damn it, Danny, Stop It.

"What made me become a CSI? I like science, I like putting puzzles together, and I like being the hero." She answered staring straight back at him. She knew she was lying and there were other reasons, but right now she didn't feel comfortable telling Danny what they were. Not yet anyway.

"So you became a Forensic Scientist because you like putting puzzles together?" Danny asked with skepticism thick in his accent.

"Yeah, something like that," she answered indifferently, "What about you? Why do you do what we do?" She liked turning the tables on him; he would flash a moment of discomfort in those grey-blue eyes of his and then go back to being the cool, zen-like Danny Messer.

Iris brought out their food and they thanked her. Lindsay started in on her soup, tentatively tasting it. Danny watched her, almost laughing. She would dip the side of her spoon in the soup, pull out a sliver of creamy liquid and then taste it with her lips. At first he thought that she was just testing to see how hot it was but then she did it again and again.

Lindsay looked up from her meal. He was doing it **_again_**, staring at her. It wasn't that she really minded, but he was making her very self conscious. She set her spoon down, and crossed her arms against her chest, her face stern.

"What is it Messer? Why aren't you eating your breakfast?" She asked tensely. He started to laugh out loud. "That's it," she started to rise from the booth, "Please take me back to the lab. This was obviously a mistake."

"Lindsay, sit down," he said, trying hard to calm his laughter. "I'm not laughing at you, well I am, but not in a bad way. You just eat differently than a native New Yorker, that's all. Please sit down." He was much more serious now; he didn't want to end it this way. He was truly enjoying her company and as much as he wouldn't admit it to her, there was no where else that he would rather be right now.

As Lindsay sat back down in the booth, she stared at him. He was starting to eat his eggs now, glancing at her occasionally. Whether it was to make sure she wasn't going to bolt to the door or slap him or just sit there and pout, she didn't know. She started eating her soup again, and there was just silence and the sound of the restaurant between them.

"You never answered my question" said Lindsay as she started on her salad, "About why you do what we do."

"I needed a job. I wasn't cut out for the 9-5 business day, trading stocks or making deals with schmoopy companies." He said in between bites of his breakfast. "Like you, I liked science, and it seemed like fun."

"Investigating death seemed like _fun_?" She asked surprised, her fork half way up to her mouth.

"Well I don't know about that part, but the technology's great, isn't it?" he said more than asked, giving her that cocky smile that made her stomach flip. "How's your soup and salad?"

Iris returned to check on them, and to give them their check. Danny grabbed the bill before Lindsay could pick it up. She looked at him and opened her mouth to say something but Danny interrupted her

"You said it was my treat"

"But," Lindsay started to say something again

"No buts, I brought you here, you got me out of the lab when I shouldn't even have been there, and I got to enjoy a good meal with a great person. It's my treat." Danny said the last two words with such finality in his voice, Lindsay thought better of it than to argue.

"Okay, how about a compromise then?" She asked with a firm tone to her voice, "You grab the bill but I get to leave the tip?" She waited for his response.

He thought about it for a minute before he replied. He didn't want to seem like a jerk or a chauvinist by insisting that he paid, but he wasn't raised the kind of guy that just lets a woman pay his way.

"Okay, you can leave the tip" he said, "but next time we go out, I pay for everything deal?" He wondered what her response would be; would she want to go out with him again?


	3. Parking Garage

A/N: Same disclosures apply as in Chap 1

Lindsay stared at him. Did he say what she just thought he said? _"When we go out next time"_ Did he think this was a date? Did she want it to be a date? What was she doing? Danny was a co-worker, they couldn't date could they?

"Okay," said Lindsay as she rose from the booth, god he must think I'm brainless. Couldn't I have thought of something better than _"Okay"_? Smooth move Monroe, he's acting like a gentleman, for once, and you say okay like you didn't even hear him.

Lindsay, lost in her thoughts, followed Danny to register and grabbed their coats while he paid. When she turned around, he was there, so close she could feel the heat radiating off of him. He took his coat from her, put it on and opened the door for them so that they could leave.

The ride back to the lab was quiet. Danny had first thought (and a little part of him hoped) that Lindsay had fallen asleep again, and he looked over at her. She wasn't asleep but just staring out the window, admiring the sunrise or the New York skyline, he couldn't tell which. The way the newly risen sun brightened up her face took his breath away. It made her hair shine and sparkle, like it had thousands of tiny diamonds imbedded in it. He wondered what she was thinking, whether she had caught his slip at breakfast. He wanted to ask her out again, on a real date, but he wanted to do it in his way. She had suggested breakfast because she knew Mac would be pissed if he caught him in the lab this morning; she hadn't done it just to be alone with him, had she? He had wanted to ask her out in a way that said, "You're gorgeous, you're beautiful, and I want to see where this takes us". Instead, he just blurts it out at the table, Brilliant Messer, you're just friggin brilliant. Danny's mind thought back to Lindsay talking in her sleep, she had said it feels like we just fell asleep. She couldn't possibly like him, could she?

"Danny"

"Danny"

"DANNY!"

"Wha? I'm driving here." replied Danny coolly.

"I just thought I would let you know you're about 4 blocks passed the lab's parking garage and you ran that last light. It was red." Said Lindsay, trying not to laugh at him, it made her feel better to know that she wasn't the only one who did it.

"Damn it." Danny swore, "Don't you laugh Monroe, don't you laugh."

"You know Danny, you're cute when you're upset." Said Lindsay, still trying hard to control her laughter. "A penny for your thoughts?"

"I was just thinking about that bullet at the lab." Danny lied as he turned the corner, backtracking to the lab's garage. Had she just called him cute? Was she being serious?

They pulled into the garage and Danny parked his Pontiac Torrent in its normal spot. They sat there for a moment when they both turnedand started to speak.

"I-"

"Thanks-"

They both laughed, it was amazing how comfortable they were with each other.

"You go first" said Danny, staring directly into her eyes. Man, they make me melt, he thought to himself.

"Ok. Thanks. For taking me to that place, I had a great time." She smiled at him, watching his eyes sparkle back at her. I feel like he can see right through me, she thought, like he knows everything about me.

"Not a problem. I had a good time too." He smiled back at her, one of his genuine smiles.

"Well…guess I should go home and get a little sleep…probably change…" she said, _why was she so nervous? She felt like she was ending a first date. _"I guess I'll see you later." She undid her seatbelt, opened her door and got out.

Danny watched her for a few minutes, then realized that it was still early morning and practically flew out of the vehicle. "Monroe, wait up. I'll walk you to your car."

They walked in silence to her car. Lindsay was a little embarrassed for Danny to see her car, it wasn't that it was in bad shape but it was an older vehicle and nowhere as nice as Danny's. She took her keys out of her pocket as they approached the car.

"Well…thanks again." Lindsay said, blushing slightly.

"Not a prob. I wouldn't want to see anything happen to you. I mean afterall, we just gotthrough breaking you in." Danny smiled at her and leaned slightly against her car.

"Gee, thanks for all of your concern Messer, butI'm an adult andI think Ican handle myself." She snapped and stuck her tongue out at him. Just when I thought he was being a human, she thought to herself. She unlocked her car door and opened it. She had just started to get in when Danny took her arm and spun her back around to face him.

"I was being concerned. This isn't Montana, Lindsay. Crime doesn't just happen at night or in the shadows. It happens all the time, at night, in the morning, in broad daylight. I really don't want to see or hear of anything happening to you." Danny said, the look of seriousness etched deep in his eyes and on his face. "This city will eat you up, spit you out, and never look back if underestimate it. I just don't want to see that happen to you." He finished quietly.

"Danny, I'm--" Lindsay started, feeling extremely guilty for snapping at him.

"Forget it. You ok? Cause I'm gonna head back in and see if the computer has impressed me yet by giving me a lead to go on." Danny said quickly, embarrassed, trying to look anywhere but her face. The blush was filling in on his cheeks; he wanted nothing more to run as far and fast as he could from that spot.

"Yeah, ok. I-I'm good" said Lindsay, surprised at his total 360 in attitude. Great, she thought, I'm so thick! He truly was concerned and I totally over reacted.

"Good, good," said Danny, almost absentmindedly, like he hadn't even heard her. Danny was partially lost in his thoughts; he had been staring at her again, as much as he had tried not to. If I don't do this now, he thought, I never will.

Time seemed to slow down as he squeezed her arm gently to pull her closer to him, he leaned in smelling the sweet raspberry smell of her hair, kissed her gently on the cheek and said, "Be safe Montana, see you later." And then he was gone.

Lindsay just stood there, watching him go. What had just happened? Did he just kiss her? Soon he was out of her sight, her hand was still touching the place where his lips had made contact with his skin not seconds earlier. Realizing that she was just standing there, like a dork, with her car door open, she got in and started her car. She was going to go home, take a nice long, hot shower, and get some sleep. It had been a very interesting shift and she wondered what the next shift would bring..

Danny practically ran to the elevator, not stopping until he was safely inside. Catching his breath, millions of thoughts ran through his head. What had he done? He had kissed her. Granted it wasn't a knock your socks off, boil your blood kiss, but a kiss is a kiss right? Why had he only kissed her on the cheek? Why didn't he press her up against he car and show him what he wanted? He wanted her! He wanted her to be with him, he wanted to be going home, wherever that was, with her. He wanted to make her dreams come true. Hell, as long as he was being honest with himself, he wanted to make new dreams with her.

The elevator door binged as it reached his designated floor, and the doors opened. Danny headed to the locker room instead of the Ballistics lab, that could wait. He grabbed the spare changed of clothes he kept in his locker and headed to the showers. It was going to be another long, long shift.


	4. In The Stairwell

_A/N: Seeing that it's 3am and I a) can't sleep, b) am upset the CSI: NY had no Danny/Lindsay scenes (and I can't find any good video montages of them, probably because of the lack of subsequent scenes together), and c) they gave Danny a girlfriend! Grrr. So, I thought I would update. So I apologize if the chapter is below the standard par._

A/N: Same disclosures as in Chapter 1 apply here. **Please don't forget to review!**

Danny and Lindsay hardly saw each other, other than random glances from labs or passing in the hall, for the rest of the week and most of the following week. Mac had Lindsay working with Flack and himself on some jumper case that, while originally thought to be suicide, was starting to look like an elaborate staged crime scene. Lucky bastards, Danny thought, he would have given anything to be working with Lindsay right now. He wanted to see her, to talk to her. He felt horrible about just disappearing on her this morning, but he couldn't look at her face after he kissed her. Even if it was only a kiss on the cheek, he didn't think that he would be able to look at her if he wasn't what she wanted. She had been on his mind constantly since that day in the parking garage. He tried calling her cell phone a couple of times, but hung up before she (or her voicemail) picked up. He knew that she probably had caller id on her phone, but he just couldn't bring himself to say the things he wanted to say over the phone. He knew that they would have to hash this thing out in the end, and he would rather it be sooner than later, but he wanted to be face to face, preferably over dinner, he thought to himself.

Danny just finishing up with the paperwork on his case, he had finally closed it. The computer found a match on the bullet, and it was all down hill from there. It turned out that the owner of the gun was a known drug dealer and had shot the victim, his sister, because she had stolen some of his merchandise, and then gone to the cops to rat him out. It had taken him longer than normal to finish his paperwork, she kept walking by. She seemed irritated about something; Danny wondered what but unfortunately didn't have time to dwell on it.

_**1 hour later**_

Danny stood up and stretched. Finally, he thought, I'm done. He closed the folder, picked it up and started walking towards Mac's office to hand it in. Mac and Lindsay were standing outside of it and it looked like they were in a serious conversation. Lindsay had her arms on her hips, and was idly tapping her foot. Mac on the other hand had his arms crossed over his chest in a slightly ominous way. Danny, not wanting to interrupt or overhear anything that wasn't any of his business, slowed his pace. Not that it did any good, Mac and Lindsay, well Lindsay mostly, weren't really trying to be quiet.

"Mac you know my position on this! It wasn't part of the job description in Montana and I'm not going to do it here!" Lindsay, who was practically shouting now.

"Lindsay, you have to understand that I get your problem with this but it just isn't my call. They changed the requirements, everyone has to adjust. You just have to go, do it, and get it over with. Nothing changes, not your day to day responsibilities or what you contribute to the team," Mac was obviously trying to keep the situation controllable, and was trying to keep his voice level, "Danny, is there something I can do for you?"

Mac had noticed Danny slowly walking up the hall, rather too slowly, almost trying to be inconspicuous. However, Mac's change of focus gave Lindsay the chance to end the conversation without really finishing it and rush off towards one of the labs.

"Lindsay! Lindsay, you have to get it done by Friday or you're confined to the lab!" Mac shouted after her. Mac rubbed his forehead. "What can I do for you Danny?"

"I just wanted to turn in my case report for the Muliet shooting to you. Didn't mean to interrupt anything, sorry if I did." Danny said. Mac looked stressed beyond what was normal for Mac, "Mac, everything ok? Anything that I can help with?"

"No, no, but thanks Danny. However, if you see Lindsay could you tell her that I would like to finish our conversation, **_today_**? Thanks." Mac answered and went into his office with Danny's report in hand.

"No prob Mac. I'll pass the message on." Danny replied to Mac's quickly retreating back. Danny started to walk off in the direction that Lindsay went, hoping to find her. He walked to the end of the hall where the emergency stairwells were. The door was open, wedged with a chair, and when he looked inside, there she was just sitting there on the steps. Her head was in her hands and he thought he heard soft sobs coming from her direction.

"Hey." He said softly, "You okay?" He tried to make the concern he had for her clear in his voice.

Lindsay looked up; her eyes were red and slightly puffy. She wiped her face with her hands, and then wiped her hands on her pants. "Hey," she replied not really looking at him, "Yeah I'm fine."

"You looked like you just had a pretty heated discussion with out fearless leader. He said he wants to finish it today, you probably shouldn't keep him waiting…" Danny trailed off and sat down beside her. He couldn't stand to see a woman cry, but especially Lindsay. He wanted to just take her in his arms, hold her and tell her everything, whatever it was, would be ok.

"Yeah well, I don't want to talk right now" said Lindsay simply, "Mac can wait until Hell freezes over for all I care." She leaned against the wall and looked at him. How could he be like to totally different people, she thought to herself, one minute he's a complete jackass and the next he's this sweet, kind, caring guy who wants to make sure that she's ok. She still wasn't going to give him more ammo that necessary however, not until she was sure.

"We can just sit here then. I solved my homicide today. It was the brother, sad ending to the family story. Mother was shot in a drive-by, father got shanked in prison, then the brother kills his baby sister for ratting him out to the cops, and now he'll probably die behind bars too." Danny didn't know what else to talk about, he was babbling and he knew it but somehow he didn't think she would want to discuss this morning in the stairwell of the lab. "Sure you don't want to talk about it? I'm a good listener." Never hurts to try again, he thought. He looked at her face, studying it. The redness of her eyes had gone down, but they were still a little puffy, but she still looked beautiful to him. He smiled at her, and she smiled back.

"Thanks but no thanks Danny. I should go talk to Mac, or go back to work…not sure which I'll do yet but thanks for the offer." Lindsay said as she used his shoulder to help her stand up. She wiped off the seat of her pants and started to walk away but she turned back and faced Danny. Their faces were level with each other now; she could smell the soft smell of his cologne, smelled like Polo Sport, one of her favorites. Their eyes stared deep into each other, time seemed to stand still.

"Did I thank you for the other morning? I did really have a great time." Lindsay said softly, leaning in kissing Danny softly. It was electric when her lips touched his, and even though it was only for a second, it seemed like an eternity. She pulled back and went back into the lab area. She couldn't believe that she did it, but she was so glad that she did. She hardly realized where her feet were taking her, but she was snapped back to reality when they stopped in front of Mac's door. She raised her hand to knock, knowing that it would be better to get this over and done with now than put it off.

"Come in" came Mac's reply.

Danny meanwhile was still sitting on the steps in the stairwell. She had kissed him. The memory kept running through his mind over and over. It seemed like the kiss lasted for hours, even thought it was only seconds. He could still taste her lips on his, and smell the raspberry scent of her shampoo. Just then, Stella walked by the open door.

"Danny, you ok?" Stella asked concerned. Danny was sitting there, like he was dazed or in shock. She leaned against the doorframe.

"Yeah Stel, I'm good." Danny answered her while standing up, "Just needed some fresh air, get some perspective ya know?" He flashed a smile at her and walked back into the lab.

"You call the smell of the stairwell fresh air?" Stella said to Danny's retreating back, making a face and shaking her head in disbelief. Danny just waved his hand in the air, acknowledging that he heard her, but kept walking.


	5. Coffee and Meetings

_A/N: Blah blah blah…Same disclosures apply as Chapter 1, if it's real, copyrighted, or otherwise owned, it isn't owned by me, I'm just using it for entertaining content. This story is purely for entertainment value only and may not reproduced to make a profit without my consent and but more importantly that of CBS, Jerry Bruckheimer or anyone else who's stuff I may have unknowingly used. **Please enjoy and submit a review as it helps me know how much and what people like about the story.**_

Chapter 5

Danny walked into the break room to pour himself another cup of the sludge they called coffee. He really wanted to make a run to Starbucks for their killer caramel macchiato, but he couldn't leave the lab for a while yet as Mac had called a staff meeting. This really made everyone wonder as staff meetings, while not completely uncommon, were rare. Stella wandered in shortly after Danny had started the coffee pot brewing another round.

"Coffee, give me hot coffee." Stella moaned. She moved towards the machine, waiting for the brewing cycle to be complete.

"Don't know if I could call this sludge coffee but I guess whatever works after a long night, eh Stel?" Danny laughed as he asked her. Her hair, while being neatly done, wasn't her normal state of looking perfectly natural, like she had woken up with it done. Her makeup looked slightly off as well. Almost as if she had been in a hurry to get them done, like she had been running late; something Danny had never seen Stella do.

"Never you mind, Danny Messer, never you mind" was Stella's only response as she poured coffee into a large cup and took a sip. Others had started to file in now. Danny saw Lindsay and she took his breath away. She looked absolutely gorgeous in a baby blue peasant top, black dress pants, and stylish black shoes. Her hair was up, something that normally accentuated the beautiful features of her face, but today she looked tired, like she hadn't slept much the night before. He tried to get over to a seat near her so he could talk to her but without seeming obvious of what he was doing. However, Hawkes beat him to it. Damn it, Danny cursed to himself, settling in a chair that was near the door. He just stared at her from his chair, hardly noticing Mac walking passed him into the room.

"Alright guys, let's get this meeting over with, I know that we all have cases or other things that we would rather be doing right now. I'll get to the point. The city has changed a requirement of our jobs. They are now stating that everyone who sees field work must have a valid pistol certificate on file stating that you have passed a general target test. It's something that everyone must take seriously because if you fail to complete this new requirement, your ability to work in the field will be suspended until you comply. They are giving us a two week time period in which to comply with this new requirement, and before you all moan and groan about the constraint, know that the original time frame was a week from this meeting. I have been given authorization to give you time out of the lab, for which you will be paid, to go down to the NYPD range for a training/practice session with your qualification to follow. This does not mean that you will need to carry a gun or anything along those lines; the city just wants to know that you can hand and fire a gun successfully should the situation call for it. Again, I need to stress that this means everyone, even if you only see the field on a fill in basis. Are there any questions?" Mac stopped talking and looked around the room.

Hawkes spoke up. "Where is this new requirement stemming from Mac? Do you know?" Danny thought it was a pretty good question. There hadn't been a crime scene problem in months; nor had there been an investigator-related shooting in months, not since he screwed up anyway.

"The city said that they just compared data that had been gathered by an outside company about shootings related to crime scene management and evidence collection. That's about all I know." Mac answered. He looked like there were a million other things that he would rather be doing right now rather than running this meeting, Danny thought. Mac was a leader, but he wasn't a "talk about it to get it done" kind of guy. He'd rather show you and help you learn to do it yourself kind of guy.

Danny broke from his thoughts at the sound of Lindsay's voice. She was asking how the city could give such a small window of time. How they could expect people to drop everything that they were doing just to comply with this new regulation that they just decided was needed. There was a hint of anger in her voice Danny thought. He should know, he'd been on the receiving end of that voice several times when she first joined the lab. Mac waited several seconds before answering her.

"Lindsay, this isn't going to be easy for any of us, we just have to get it done and over with. While I agree that the timing isn't great, they sign the paychecks." Mac finished plainly; as if he was saying that there wasn't anything else left to say. No one else raised their hands to ask anything so Mac ended the meeting.

Danny was hoping to catch Lindsay before she left the room, he really wanted to go to Starbucks for something that he could actually call coffee, and he was hoping that she would go with him so that they could talk. However, by the time he put his chair back at the table and threw out his empty cup, she was gone.  
"Hawkes, where'd Montana go" Danny called out to the former Coroner and new CSI.

"She said she had to go somewhere." Sheldon called back, "Why?"

"No reason" Danny lied, "Just wanted to ask her a couple of questions, keep her on her toes ya know?" Danny smiled, thinking that wasn't the only reason, just like going to Starbucks hopefully wouldn't have just been for the coffee and muffins.

"Can't leave her alone can you Messer," Stella retorted. "The poor girl moves more than half way across the country -:" Danny cut Stella off.

"I wasn't going to pick on her. I think she's cool, she can handle herself and she does pretty well with me too," Danny said slightly put off, "You haven't heard some of the remarks she's thrown at me first. Right Hawkes? Remember about the walrus documentary? She said I was 30!"

Sheldon laughed out loud, shook his head and walked out of the room. Stella followed shortly after, as her cell phone rang and she mysteriously didn't want to be overheard. Danny thought it was probably that sculptor guy who helped them out on their blind murder victim case, but she hadn't admitted it to anyone. Well, Danny thought, I'll give myself a few minutes to try and find her, if not, guess it'll be a lonely Starbucks visit for me.

Danny had looked all over that lab for Lindsay, even checking the stairwell and Mac's office, since he wasn't sure if she had gone back to finish their conversation yesterday, but she was no where to be found. So Danny had gone to Starbucks and was now in the break room again, sipping on his caramel macchiato, thinking about what was happening between Lindsay and him. His mind replayed their interactions, from the breakfast at the restaurant, to his kissing her on the cheek, to the hot kiss they had shared in the stairwell. He was playing that particular memory over and over again when Flack entered the room.

"Messer" Flack greeted Danny enthusiastically, "What are you up to man?"

"Nothing much, just thinking about some things that are going on, life in general, ya know?" Danny tried to be casual, hoping it didn't sound too forced.

"So who's the hot little number, Danny?" Flack asked with a smile on his face, "You have that same look on your face every time there's a woman in your life Messer."

"Nah, there isn't anyone special right now, Flack. I'm just thinking about life, how things go from bad to great to unsure in the beat of a second." Danny answered just as Lindsay walked into the room.


	6. Watch What You Say

_A/N: Same disclosures apply as in Chapters 1-5. **Please don't forget to review after reading, as I try to personally respond to all reviews (well to those from people who are logged in when they review)! **_

Chapter 6

Danny saw the look on her face, a mixture of hurt, betrayal and fear, as the words came out of his mouth. Their eyed fixed on each other and Lindsay had stopped dead in her tracks, hearing every word. No one special in his life, she thought, did that kiss mean anything to him. With a hurried excuse about forgetting something, she rushed from the room. How could she have been so stupid? Thinking of getting involved with Danny Messer, the guy who busted her chops the most and was the world's biggest jackass, how could she have thought that they could ever work? She was fuming. She didn't even know where she was going, but somehow she ended up on the roof, but she wasn't really surprised. She had found that the roof to be a place of solitude, somewhere she could just think and watch the city go by. It had helped her a lot when she had first moved to the city and missed having the wide open spaces to look at. She sat down on a small cement bench like thing that was on top of the roof and look out. She could see the Statue of Liberty, and the harbor, and she could barely hear the noise below. What do I even see in that pompous, self-centered, arrogant ass she asked herself, why am I always attracted to boys and not men! She was so frustrated with herself. She then thought of the breakfast that they had shared. He had been sweet insisting that he paid, then there was the way his forehead crinkled when he was frustrated or irritated, and the time in the parking garage…He had kissed her, and even though it wasn't on the lips, Lindsay found it more respectful that he had kissed her on the cheek first, not on the lips. Didn't he feel something when she had kissed him? Didn't she feel the heat and the desire like she had? Tears started to roll down her face, she had cried more since she had moved to New York than the entire time she lived in Montana, or at least it felt like it. Lindsay continued to think and what about the parking garage? Certainly he didn't give that kind of heartfelt speech to everyone…She continued to stare out at the skyline…

Danny sat there, staring at the place where she had just stood. He knew that she had heard him, and he knew that she had taken it the wrong way. How could she have not? He needed to get out of there, he needed to find her and explain what he meant, to find out what they meant, and then he would shout it from the rooftops that he had the most wonderful woman in the world.

"Wow, something's gotten into Monroe today, huh?" Flack broke into his thoughts, sipping on his coffee and acting like nothing was wrong.

"Yeah" Danny answered him distractedly, "Must be something about a case…" Danny's voice trailed off as his mind raced to think of all the places that she could be. "I gotta go…duty calls." Flack could think what he wanted; whether it was Danny had to use the john, go back to work, or even go find Lindsay, right now Danny didn't care.

Danny left Flack in the break room and immediately ran into Stella, Mac and Hawkes, who were walking down the hall.

"Uh…" He didn't really want to ask, fearing his co-workers would pick up on his asking a lot about her lately, but screw his pride (he hoped he hadn't screwed up his chances with her!) "Have any of you guys seen Lindsay, like within the last 5-10 minutes?" Danny asked, trying to keep the sense of urgency out of his voice and knowing that it wasn't working.

They all kind of looked at Danny, and then looked at each other and then answered no in semi-unison. Mac however, continued to speak.

"But since you're here Danny, why don't you take this case. DB at the Ritz-Carlton, body was found in a suite on the 10th floor. There's evidence of illegal drugs in the room."

"But Mac…I was…nevermind." Danny's heart sunk. "Am I flying solo on this one?" Guess I'm gonna have to wait to find her, damn. Danny felt himself frown as he took the folder from Mac and headed in the opposite direction.

**A Few Minutes Later in The Break Room**

Flack had left by the time the trio had gone into the break room. They all poured themselves cups of coffee and grabbed a piece of the crumb cake that someone had brought it.

"Has anyone noticed that Danny's asking about Lindsay a lot lately?" asked Stella when they had settled around the break room table. Two times in one day is just not like Danny.

"Maybe Danny's helping her with something," suggested Sheldon. "Is she working solo on cases yet Mac?"

Mac shook his head no, while he was thinking. Mac had started to worry about Lindsay; she was taking this new regulation really hard.

"You don't think they're seeing each other do you?" asked Stella quietly, "They would have told us if they were, right?"

"Are we talking about the same Danny Messer and Lindsay Monroe? Haven't you ever seen these two in a room? They are like oil and water. I really don't think that Lindsay can stand Danny." Sheldon said as Mac cocked an eyebrow, considering what Stella had asked.

"Still, haven't you ever heard that you tease and make fun of the one you like? Don't you remember being in grade school Hawkes? I'm telling you, there's something going on there…they might not even know what it is yet." Stella said resignedly.

"Well," said Mac speaking up for the first time, "if there is something going on, I'm sure that they'll tell us when the time is right, and until then there's nothing that we can really do about it, unless it effects either of their jobs. Now…when are you two going down to the range for your qualifications?"

"Mine's this afternoon Mac." Sheldon stood up, threw out his cup, and waved goodbye to head back to the lab. Sheldon laughed to himself as he left for the trace lab, Danny and Lindsay, a couple…nah…Lindsay is to country for the city boy Messer.

Meanwhile back in the break room, Mac and Stella were still enjoying the last few minutes remaining in their coffee before returning back to their cases.

"What about you Stel? When is your qualification?" Mac asked again.

"I've already done it. I've been doing it yearly for about 5 years, since before they even announced they were considering adding the reg. I thought it would be important to have seeing as how I carry a gun out in the field and all." She laughed as she finished her sentence and smiled at Mac, who smiled back and laughed along with her.


	7. In the locker room

_A/N: Same disclosures apply as in Chapters 1-6. **Please Enjoy Reading and Review Afterwards!**_

Chapter 7

Lindsay decided that she had sat up on the roof long enough and that people were probably wondering where she was, not to mention she was getting cold. After all, she wasn't exactly sure what was or had been going on between her and Danny. And that, she thought to herself, was not something that she should be possibly risking her job over.

Lindsay came down off the room and went over into the Trace lab where she ran into Stella, who was going over a bed sheet stained with blood.

"Oh, hey," said Stella, noticing Lindsay walking into the room, "Danny was looking to you earlier. He seemed pretty anxious, like it was really important that he talk to you. Did he find you?"

"No, haven't seen him all day." Lindsay lied. "What are you working on? Need any help?" Lindsay walked over to the table.

"Rape case, I'm looking for traces of semen, doesn't look like I'm going to have any luck though. Perp probably wore a condom." Stella said. She really wanted to ask Lindsay what was going on with her and Danny, but she didn't feel it was her place and like Mac said when they want us to know they'll let us know. "Hey, can you hit the lights, Lindsay?"

Lindsay flicked the switch and the lights went out. Stella started running over the sheet with different colored lights until she found what she was looking for.

"Gotcha!" Stella cried.

Lindsay grabbed the camera and took a picture of the spot that Stella had marked. She then watched Stella cut the section out of the sheet to send to DNA. All in all they found 6 spots to send to DNA for testing. They work diligently for the better part of the day, going over evidence and scenarios of possibilities of what happened. During this time, Lindsay fought the urge to ask Stella if Danny had said what he wanted or where he had gone since she hadn't seen him since this morning in the break room. So far she had resisted, but as they closed on the end of the work day, it was getting harder.

"Hey Stella," Lindsay tried to sound nonchalant, "Did Danny say what he wanted or where I could find him?"

s"I know that Mac sent him out on a case, solo, so he's probably still there processing. I think something was mentioned about illegal drugs and possible murder." Stella shrugged her shoulders, "But he didn't say anything about why he needed to talk to you. Like I said before, he seemed anxious, like it was urgent."

"Oh," said Lindsay, fighting to keep the disappointment out of her voice, "Guess I should go see if Mac has anything for me before I head out."

"Ok, I'm going to keep working here a little longer. Thanks for all your help Lindsay, I really appreciated it" came Stella's reply though she didn't look up from what she was doing.

Lindsay walked to Mac's office and since the door was open, leaned on the door frame. Mac was on the phone, but motioned her to come in and sit down. She took the chair by the window in front of his desk, this way she could look out at the skyline while he finished up with his call. She heard the phone click on the receiver, and looked up at him.

"Hey, I just wanted to see if you had anything for me or if I was good to go home for the day." Lindsay finished her sentence and looked at him.

"Actually I was hoping to talk to you before you left. I have a couple of questions to ask you." Mac said as he took his seat. "How are you doing? Are you adjusting to the city life?" Mac was genuinely concerned about her, moving from a town of maybe three thousand to a city of probably more than five hundred thousand was a big move to make.

"Yeah Mac, I'm good. I've wanted to thank you for helping me find my apartment, it's absolutely gorgeous and I would have never known that I could afford something with such a view without your help." Lindsay answered honestly. "I was planning on, if there was no case for me to work on, to go home and put up my Christmas decorations."

"Good, sounds like a plan." Mac paused, "but before you go, there's something else I want to ask you about. I was just on the phone with your supervisor from Montana. I called her to see if I could get some insight on why you are fighting this new reg so much."

Lindsay's face immediately darkened, and her eyes closed off Mac's ability to read her expression. "What did she tell you?" she asked in a low, but calm voice.

"She told me to ask you, that it wasn't her place to disclose such personal information, so that's what I'm doing. I would really like to help you get through this Lindsay. Like I said earlier, you having to pass this qualification, it doesn't mean you have to carry a gun, or anything like that." Mac replied, still trying to read Lindsay's expression.

Lindsay sat there for several minutes, as if she was trying to decide what to say. She stood up and walked to the window, her arms wrapped around herself, looking out at the skyline.

"Did I ever tell you what made me become a CSI, Mac?" Lindsay started, but before Mac could answer, she continued. "It was because I was tired of seeing people, who were clearly guilty, getting away with crimes because there was a lack of evidence. It happened all the time in my hometown, people were killed and their murders would get off because the evidence got 'contaminated' or 'got lost' before the trial. All my life, growing up in the fear that anyone could be here and then gone without ever knowing that the person or people responsible, if they knew the right people, would never be held accountable." She turned to face Mac; the look on his face was a mixture of shock, and disbelief. Lindsay, however, pushed on with her reasoning; she'd get to answer his question in a minute. Now that she had begun, it was like the flood gates had opened and she didn't want to close them yet.

"It was hard. I attended so many funerals when I was little. More than any person should have to attend, let alone a little girl. The gangs literally ran our town, it was so scary. I remember shopping with my grandmother and when we were coming out of the store, a man walked up to us and demanded my grandmother's purse and jewelry. She told them no, to leave us alone, that she wasn't going to be bullied by a bunch of non-educated thugs who refused to work for what they wanted. I remember my grandmother starting to reach into her purse, and they shot her ten times. They emptied their clip into her. They shot her in for refusing them, for standing up, something no one else would do. Not even the city council, the mayor, or even the police chief. They shot her in front of me, not even caring that I was there. As she fell, she dropped her purse. Want to know what she was reaching for? She was reaching for the keys to the car. I let her down, I didn't do anything to make her killers pay. I just stood there and cried, like a child." Lindsay practically screamed the last two sentences, trying to hold in the tears. She sat back down and put her head in her hands.

Mac came around his desk and sat down next to Lindsay, he put his hand on her arm. He didn't know what to say, he hadn't known that growing up was that rough for her because she never let on about it.

"I didn't know that Montana was that rough," Mac began, only to be cut off again.

"Oh – yeah that's the kicker. I wasn't living with my parents at the time. They had sent me to live with my grandmother for awhile because they were struggling and they didn't want it to affect me, growing up. They had actually sent me to live with her because they thought it would be better for me. That I would be safer with her than with them, just because they were struggling…ironic huh?" Lindsay did something like a half snort, half laugh, Mac thought it was out of disgust or irritation, he wasn't sure which.

"So that's why you don't even want to know how to defend yourself with a gun if it comes to it?" Mac asked, "Lindsay, I'm not saying that your reasoning isn't valid. You watched something happen that was wrong and unjust, but that doesn't mean if you fire a gun that you're going to become like them." Mac said the words before he could stop himself.

"Ugh! I'm not afraid of becoming a killer, I'm not afraid of doing what they did! Men! Why is it you just expect people to get over their issues!" Lindsay stood up so suddenly, she knocked her chair over backwards. "I see that I've been signed up for my qualification on Friday, I'll make sure that I complete it to the highest standards, _sir._" Her emphasis on the last word was laced with anger, irritation and frustration. She knew she shouldn't have pushed it, since she knew that calling Mac sir would probably piss him off, but he asked, he wanted to know and now he was judging her. She stormed out of Mac's office and walked right into Danny, who apparently was coming back from his scene.

"Lindsay, I was just--" Danny started to say but she cut him off.

"Go to hell, Messer!" Lindsay shouted at him, the tears flowing freely now. She shoved him out of the way and ran to the locker rooms.

Danny had seen her crying and his heart fell to his feet. He deserved her anger. Had she been talking to Mac about what happened, he thought to himself. He silently hoped that the answer was no, as he wanted to approach Mac himself when the time was right, however he had hoped that he could figure out what was going on with him and Lindsay before that happened. He needed to talk to her, he decided; they needed to sort this thing out and he hated seeing her upset. He had already put his evidence and things in the correct labs, so he headed to the locker room. Knocking on the door, he heard sobbing from the other side.

"Lindsay?" he said as he tentatively started to open the door. He didn't want to open himself up too quickly, incase she threw something at him. "Lindsay, can we talk?"

When nothing came flying at the door, he stepped inside and let it close behind him. There she was, sitting on the bench, with her head in her hands. Seeing her like that made him want to wrap her up in his arms and promise her it was going to be ok. Here he was, trying to protect her from this big bad city and he was the one hurting her the most. I must be the city's biggest slimeball, he thought to himself.

Lindsay looked up at him, half grateful that he followed her here, half irritated because he didn't know when leave well enough alone.

"What do you want Danny?" Lindsay asked as Danny sat down next to her. She could feel the heat radiating off of him. She wanted to be in his arms, she wanted to the comfort that she knew he could provide, even though she had never felt it before. She looked at him, tears still wet on her face, her face blotchy from crying.

"I…Are you ok?" Danny asked, not sure what else to say. Maybe this had been a bad idea. "I mean you seem upset, I was worried about you." Brilliant you dork, he thought, why not just state the complete obvious.

"Yeah, perfectly happy, can't you tell?" She flashed him a weak smile. He always made her smile, no matter what the situation. She felt him shift a little on the bench.

"Saw you came from Mac's office, everything ok?" He asked sincerely, granted he wanted to know how much Mac knew, but still he wanted to help her.

"Yeah, we were just talking about the new reg and how much I don't like it. That's all. Why?" She was curious now, what did he think that she was talking to Mac about. "I should go; I have a list of things to do at home. Plus I think I may have maxed on overtime this month, don't want to cause trouble." Not that the city minds causing trouble for me, she added silently to herself.

"Oh." Danny said the disappointment clear in his voice. He wanted to talk to her more, he wanted to define them.

Lindsay heard the disappointment in his voice, and while she was still very angry with him about this morning, she didn't really want to be alone. This would give them some time to talk in private without the rest of the lab listening, and he might open up more she reasoned to herself, plus it would be a bonus to see if Danny outside of the lab with no pretenses.

"Well I could always use some help hanging my Christmas decorations if you wanted to come over, if you're not too busy." Lindsay said, unsure of his reaction. She gave him a small, hopeful smile, looking right into his eyes.

"Well…oh…ummm…That would be nice." Danny stuttered, "I would love to. I do have some small things to finish up here and then I'll be over, is that ok?" Danny hoped she wouldn't retract her offer; he really did have something to do here to settle his case into the lab.

"Yeah, that's ok. Here's my address." She wrote it down and gave it to him, then put on her coat. "See you in a bit." Lindsay said as she turned to walk out the door.

Danny couldn't resist, he spun her back around to face him, just as he did in the parking garage, and kissed her. Only this time it wasn't a kiss on the cheek. He pressed his lips to hers and pulled her body to his by wrapping his arms around her waist, under her coat. The kiss was full of heat, passion, and desire. Danny felt her arms snake around his neck. Undesirably, they pulled away from the kiss, but remained close together.

"Wow." Lindsay uttered, breathlessly. She pulled back alittle more from Danny, who let her go against his better judgment.

"We need to talk about this Lindsay." Danny said, he so wanted to kiss her again, screw the talking.

"I know and we will tonight, I still have a bone to pick with you--" Lindsay began but stopped herself, "We'll talk about a lot of things tonight ok? But the sooner I leave the sooner you'll get to my place." She placed another small kiss on his lips and said goodbye before walking out the door.


	8. Lindsay's Apartment

_A/N: Same disclosures apply as in chapters 1-7; **Please don't forget to review after you enjoy the story!**_

Chapter 8

Danny watched the door for several minutes after she left. He sat down on the bench and looked at the address she had given him. It wasn't that far from the lab or from his place, which surprised him. He looked at his watch, well, better get my act in gear if I'm going to get over there in an hour at most, he thought. He stood up, looked around the locker room, played the memory in his head again, and headed out the door.

Meanwhile at her apartment, Lindsay was hanging up her coat. I can't believe I invited him over, Lindsay thought. Lindsay went into her bedroom and tried to pick something comfortable, but not overly comfy that might give the wrong impression, to wear. It's funny, Lindsay thought again, Danny was the first person that gave me a hard time in New York but he's also the one that I felt the most comfortable with and made me feel like I belonged…sort of. She finished changing and looked at herself in the mirror. She had let her hair down, so it was resting soft against her shoulders, an oversized sweatshirt from the University of Montana, and a pair of black flannel pants. Comfortable, informal but yet, respectful, she thought. She walked out of her bedroom and into the kitchen and put on a pot of coffee. She thought about ordering something to eat, but wasn't sure what she wanted let alone what Danny would want so she decided to wait until he got there. She went back into the living area, and looked around. She couldn't believe that she could actually afford a place like this, two bedrooms with a gorgeous view. She stood looking out her living room windows for a minute thinking; she could remember the feel of his lips on hers. They were soft and gentle, and she wanted more of them. She started to play the moment they had in the locker room over in her head when a knock at the door snapped her out of her reverie. She walked over to the door and looked through the peep hole. Danny would probably have a fit if she just opened the door, she laughed to herself, probably would make me do it over correctly.

"Hi." She said simply after she had opened the door, smiling at him. He must have changed at the lab, noting his more casual jeans, tee-shirt, and flannel over shirt. "Come on in to Casa de Monroe"

"Hello yourself," Danny said stepping over the threshold, "These are for you." He handed her a bouquet of white and red winter roses.

"They're gorgeous Danny, you didn't have--" Lindsay was cut off by Danny's lips meeting hers. The kiss was slow and meaningful. When they finally broke apart, Danny took Lindsay's free hand in hers and closed the door behind him.

"So should we put these beauties in water?" asked Danny.

She guided them to the kitchen, where the smell of Chocolate-Raspberry coffee filled the kitchen. She grabbed a vase from the cupboard and filled it with lukewarm water. He watched her while sitting at the kitchen table, as she clipped the ends of the stems and put them in water. When she was finished, they kind of just stared at each other.

"So…" Lindsay started, "Do we want to order dinner? Or would you like some coffee? Can I get you anything?" Lindsay knew she was babbling, what was it about this man that made her so nervous?

Danny just stared at Lindsay; she looks exquisite, even barefoot and in lounge clothes he thought, barely hearing what she was saying. That sweatshirt made her look so tiny, not that she looked big in her work clothes; he just never realized how short she really was.

"Danny? Hello Earth to Danny…" Lindsay broke into his thoughts again.

"Sure." Danny answered, not exactly knowing what he was agreeing to.

"Ok, the phone is on the counter next to you, go ahead and pick a place." Lindsay said, smiling slyly. She knew he didn't have a clue what she was asking him to do. He had this glazed over look on his face, like he had gotten lost in his thoughts.

"Um, what am I doing again?" Danny asked sheepishly. He flashed a smile to her. "Sorry…I was too busy staring at you. You look nice, ya know?"

Lindsay blushed and looked away. She didn't think Danny would even notice what she was wearing, it wasn't exactly flashy or something that one would wear to be noticed.

"Thanks. You don't look too bad yourself," She smiled, "But as I was saying do you want to order something to eat? Or I could try and cook something. Is there anything you want, to drink or snack on?" She was pouring herself a cup of coffee, anything to calm my nerves, she thought.

"We could order out, I know a couple of good places in this area, or if you would like I could whip something up, depending on what you have in the fridge." Danny was still staring at her, "What are you in the mood for?"

Isn't that a loaded question, thought Lindsay quietly. She felt like her mind and body were screaming for Danny's touch, the warmth and strength of his arms around her, the feel of his lips on her skin.

"Well, what are my choices?" Lindsay asked.

"Well, there's a good pizza joint around the corner and they do all sorts of stuff. Other than that, there's a Chinese place just up the street, Tai a few blocks away, and a Mexican style place too." Danny answered her, "Messer's Pizza would be the place of my choice."

"Messer's Pizza?" Lindsay asked curiously, "Any relation?" He had her attention now.

"My uncle's place, best pizza joint in the city, atleast in my opinion. But I might be biased, who knows." He finished the sentence by standing up from the kitchen table and closed the gap between them. He wrapped his arms around her waist and nuzzled her neck. He loved how she smelled like fresh raspberries, and he loved being able to take the smell in as deeply as he wanted. She wrapped her arms around his waist as well. She loved how safe he made her feel, how strong she felt in his presence, and how happy he made her. She pulled back slightly, so they were still touching but could look in each other's eyes.

"Well, Daniel Messer, what do you recommend from Messer's Pizza?" She smiled at him, "Sooner we get it ordered the sooner we can eat and then the sooner we can decorate for Christmas!"

He laughed at her. She reminded him of a little kid the way she ended her last sentence. He pulled her close again, just enjoying being close to her.

"And the sooner we can talk about this," he said and he felt her nod. "So you trust me to order for you?" He felt her nod again. "How's a chicken finger pizza with medium wings and a sampler platter sound?" Again he felt her nod against his chest. He reluctantly let her go so that he could go order.

"Could you ask for extra bleu cheese?" Lindsay asked at his retreating back and she heard him answer yes. She sipped her coffee again. She could get used to this, how comfortable it felt.

**An hour later**

Danny and Lindsay were sitting on her couch, munching on pizza and wings. They had been talking about minor stuff, nothing exciting. Danny was telling her how beautiful the city was at Christmas time and how everyone seems to go out of their way to light things up, or decorate, or acknowledge the holiday in some spectacular way. Lindsay had asked about the tree in Rockefeller Center and Danny told her that it was huge, and how they brought the tree in from Vermont every year. Soon they were stuffed, though Lindsay reached that point long before Danny.

"So what is going on with us?" Lindsay asked before she could stop herself, "What are we doing?"

The question, while expected had still caught Danny off guard, due to the fact that he thought she would want to decorate as soon as they got done eating.

"I don't know Lindsay, I really like you." Danny answered honestly, "But I don't want to make you uncomfortable or anything. I would like us to be more than friends, but if friends is all you want, I'm willing to except that." He looked her in the eyes, not hiding anything of himself.

"Danny, I like you too." Lindsay said, "I…I want to be more than friends, but won't this complicate things at the lab? We'll never see each other outside of work…" Her voice trailed off, but her eyes never left him.

"Lindsay, I've never met anyone like you. You're so different than any girl I've ever met, and you intrigue me, you drive me crazy sometimes, but I want to be with you." Danny finished simply.

"Danny, what happens if we don't work out? How would we handle it then?" Lindsay wanted to be with Danny more than anything, but all of her insecurities started to surface. "Would we avoid each other? I mean as much as you irritate and frustrate me more than anyone I've ever met, I wouldn't want to lose the friendship we've developed."

Danny took her plate from her and set it on the table in front of them. He turned her to face him completely, so he could look deep into her eyes.

"Lindsay I'm not saying we have to get married. I just want to see where this will take us. Believe me, I've fought this as hard as I possibly can, and I'm tired of fighting it. If something happens, we'll cross the bridge when we get to it." Danny held her hands in his, and stared at her with intensity, as she had seen him do that day in the Ballistics lab.

"Ok," Lindsay couldn't fight it anymore either, "but do we have to tell everyone just yet? I kind of like making them wonder and I want to make sure we've have some time with just us before letting the whole world know." Lindsay paused at the look of shock on Danny's face. "I'm not saying we can't tell people if they ask, I'm just saying let's not shout it from the rooftops yet."

Danny nodded, and closed the gap between them again. He pressed his lips to her forehead, then to the bridge of her nose, and her lips. He was making a trail of kisses down her face. He nuzzled her neck kissing the soft flesh between her shoulders and chin line.

Lindsay moaned softly, she had her arms wrapped around Danny's waist as they leaned back onto her sofa. They spent the next 20 minutes kissing and enjoying finally admitting what they had been denying for weeks. Lindsay finally pushed Danny gently away.

"Danny, as much as I am really enjoying this, I would really like to get my Christmas stuff out and hung up. You did say that you would help me." A smile broke out across her face.

Danny pouted, but then smiled. "Ok, where do we start?"


	9. Hanging Christmas Decor

**_A/N: Same disclosures apply as in Chapters 1-8, not my stuff – just borrowing it for entertainment! Thanks to everyone who has read, and more importantly to those who have reviewed (signed or not!). Hope you enjoy this chapter as well – Hol._**

Chapter 9

"You want that to go where?" Danny asked; his voice thick with accent and disbelief. He was looking at her like she had just sprouted another head. He just couldn't wrap his head around what she said to him.

"Don't look at me that way. There's nothing wrong with what I just said. It's not like it's that difficult. Please? It's the last thing and then we're all done" Lindsay pouted a little. "Just push the window out a small ways, clip it over the edge and shut the window again. It's not like I'm asking you to climb out on the edge of the building."

"Lindsay, you live on the 15th floor. You have damn near floor to ceiling windows, that might I add don't open that easily, and it's 7 degrees outside. Why oh why, do you feel the need to hang this on the window to hang your very beautiful wreath, where no one but you," he smiled slyly "will see it? Why not hang it on your apartment door like a normal New Yorker?"

"Oh," said Lindsay feigning disappointment and pouting slightly, "you aren't planning on coming back? That's a shame." She put her hands on her hips and smirked at him. "Besides, I am not a "normal New Yorker" to quote you. And besides, I like the pine scent, reminds me of home." She said the last sentence so simply, that it had a tone of finality to it.

Danny thought of her last four words "reminds me of home" that it tugged at his heart. He wanted to make her feel like New York was her home now, not that he wanted her to forget about her Montana roots.

"Gimme the damn hook thingy." Danny said, thrusting his hand out for her to give it too him.

"Thank you Danny." Lindsay said with a great big smile, as she sat back down on the couch, her feet tucked underneath her. He was so cute when he was trying to be irritated with her. The way his eyes seemed to open to let her in let her know that he really couldn't argue with her logic and maybe, just maybe, understood it. She looked around, her apartment seemed to have been transformed. They had put up her small artificial tree and decorated it, hung lights, garland, and put out some Christmas novelties. It was really nice doing this with someone, she thought as she stifled a yawn, especially Danny.

Lindsay watched as Danny struggled to open the top portion of Lindsay's window, letting in a blast of cold air. Then she laughed out loud as he tried to close the window again, after clipping the wreath holder over the edge.

"Thanks for all of your help, _Montana_. Considering that I'm doing all of this for your wreath…" His voice trailed off. He raised his eyebrows at her in a suggestive way. He picked up her wreath and hung it on the clip he had just put up. "Looks good Linds." He had said it softly, but he was pretty sure that she had heard him. He turned around to see what she thought.

"Yeah, it looks perfect." Lindsay's face wore a wide smile. "Thanks for all of your help Danny. It would have taken me twice as long to get everything done and it wouldn't have been nearly as much fun." She had her arms wrapped around herself, like she was cold. "And I would have never gotten that window open and closed without help. It means a lot to me, thank you." She was looking in his eyes, studying his face.

Danny knew she was being sincere. He walked up to her and wrapped his arms around her, kissing her forehead. It was such a simple gesture, but he knew that she was comfortable. She rested her head against his broad chest, and sighed softly.

"It's still early yet," Danny said, looking at his watch, "Only a little after 8. Do you want to rent a movie or something?" Danny did not want to leave yet, he was very comfortable at this point. I could get used to doing this day in and day out, he thought to himself. He liked helping Lindsay with her Christmas stuff, he had been putting off doing his because it seemed like such a hassle to do it just for himself, maybe he could ask her to come help him with his. Of course, he'd have to have enough time to clean his apartment, he added as an after thought. Compared to Lindsay's apartment, his was a complete pig-sty.

"Sure," answered Lindsay, her voice muffled against his chest, "I could make some popcorn if you would like. My DVD collection is over there." She looked up at him as she pointed to a bookcase-like unit near the television.

Danny leaned in slightly and kissed her. He love the feel and taste of her lips, they were so soft and warm. His hand were rubbing her back and squeezing her body closer to his. The kiss seems to go on forever, until they were both slightly out of breath. Danny looked at Lindsay, a pale pink color was rising in her cheeks, like she was embarrassed.

"Everything ok?" Danny asked. He wanted to make sure that they weren't moving too fast or anything. His voice was full of concern and his eyes were searching hers for a hint of the problem.

"Everything's fine. I'm just a little warm, that's all." Lindsay smiled reassuringly at Danny. "Now how about you pick out a movie, I'll make the popcorn and get the drinks?" Seeing that Danny was still searching her eyes to make sure that everything was, in fact, definitely ok, Lindsay stated again, "Danny I promise everything is fine."

"Ok. What are you in the mood for?" Danny again wagged his eyebrows at her suggestively. He was promptly punched in the arm in return. "Ow…I meant for the movie."

Danny stuck out his bottom lip, pouting, but by this time, Lindsay was almost to the kitchen.

"You're fine Messer, and I know what you meant. I didn't hit you nearly half as hard as I could have." Came the response from the kitchen. "Something with action or comedy please."

"Yeah, I know you think I'm fine, but what about my arm." Danny called back, while searching through her DVD collection. He heard a small laugh come from the kitchen and what sounded like "yeah, yeah, yeah" but he wasn't sure. He couldn't believe all the movies that Lindsay owned, she easily had 300 or more. He picked out a couple of movies that he thought would be agreeable when she came back into the room carrying a bowl of popcorn and a couple of bottles of soda.

"Ok, pick one. Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Stealth, Monster-In-Law, or, my personal favorite, Spaceballs?" Danny said looking at her, as she was getting comfortable.

"Um…Let's go with Mr. and Mrs. Smith. That's my new favorite movie right now." She smiled and settled herself back onto the couch, with a fuzzy blanket and the bowl of popcorn.

Wow, she looks adorable, thought Danny, I really could get used to this. Danny put the movie in the DVD player and went to sit on the couch. He sat down, near Lindsay, but not immediately next to her. The popcorn bowl was between them as the movie started. The opening credits started to roll and Lindsay turned off the light next to her.

"I think movies are better with soft lighting. Makes you think that you're in the theatre." She set the popcorn bowl in her lap and moved a little closer to Danny, so that she was sort of leaning on him.

Danny, in order to be comfortable, rested his left arm along of the back of the sofa. As the movie progressed, Danny would occasionally feel her adjust in order to get more comfortable. Eventually she just snuggled into the nook formed by his arm and shoulder, and Danny used his hand to stroke her hair.

Towards the end of the movie, the popcorn had been forgotten and now sat next to their dinner dishes on the coffee table. Danny had become aware of the fact that Lindsay had stopped fidgeting so much now that she had gotten comfortable, and her breathing had become soft and even, almost rhythmic. He looked down and saw Lindsay was sound asleep curled up next to him. Danny watched her for a few minutes, noticing how even in her sleep she was absolutely stunning. He watched her for a few more minutes when a thought covered him like ice water. He didn't want to wake her up, but he didn't want to just leave her on the couch and he didn't know where her bedroom was. He didn't know exactly what to do, did he leave her here and just go home or did he try to carry her to her bedroom, and risk waking her up. He watched her for awhile longer, while trying to determine what the best course of action was. He decided that he would try to get up, find her bedroom and then come back to get her.

Carefully, Danny shifted out from being Lindsay's pillow, and let her relax gently back onto the couch. She made a few indistinguishable sounds, as Danny's mind flipped back to that morning in the car, but he just covered her a little more with the blanket she had and went in search of her bedroom.

It took Danny a few minutes to find it but he did, and he thought it was very fitting of Lindsay. The walls were all white, as most apartment walls are, but she had added complimentary colors of greens, blues, and yellows making the room warm. There were a few pictures around the room, but Danny didn't look too closely at those, he didn't want her to think that he had been nosey while she was sleeping. He pulled the covers back and went out to the living room. She was still sleeping on the couch when he got back out there, though she had curled more into a ball than she had been in before. He lifted her, blanket and all, easily, noting how light and tiny she felt in his arms. He carried her back into her bedroom and laid her in the bed. She snuggled in a little while he pulled the blankets up to cover her.

"Danny." She was talking in her sleep again. "I don't want to go." Her face tightened, and she twitched a little under the covers. "Danny, don't let them make me go, I was doing my job" she cried out. After that the rest became unintelligible and she whimpered slightly.

Danny was alarmed, it almost sounded like she was having a nightmare, one that included him. He wasn't sure what to do, so he knelt by her bed and took her hand, stroking the back of it with his thumb.

"It's ok Lindsay, whatever it is, it'll be ok. I promise." Danny whispered to her sleeping form. He noticed that she quieted down immediately and her breathing returned to rhythmic sounds again. He stayed there for a few more minutes, making sure that she was sound asleep before he stood up. He kissed her forehead gently and then returned to the living room. He picked up their dishes off the coffee table and took them to the kitchen. He noticed that she had a pad of paper next to the phone, so he grabbed and wrote her a note…

Lindsay,

You fell asleep during the movie; I hope that you don't mind that I put you in your bedroom. Thanks for a great evening; we should do this again soon. I'll call you tomorrow since I have it off. Have a great day, Montana.

From,

Danny

He then tacked the note to the fridge, hoping the she, like him, needed a glass of water or milk or something first thing in the morning. Danny took one last look around the room, to make sure that everything was somewhat neat and organized, and that things, like the tv and decorative lights, were off before he grabbed his coat, and left for his own apartment.


	10. The Day After

**_A/N: Again, same disclosures apply as in previous chapters, please read and review, as reviews help me update faster! This chapter is a little longer than the others due to the fact that it maybe my last update before Christmas (life gets crazy around here this week!) Thanks to all my great readers who read this story and even more to those who review, you're the greatest! _**

Chapter 10

Lindsay woke up in the morning, with the sun shining on her face. She stretched and smiled as she remembered last night, it had been fun. She rolled over, and realized she was in bed. She wondered how she had got there, the last thing that she had remembered was watching the movie with Danny on the couch after putting up her Christmas decorations. She looked at the clock, it read 8:45am. Her phone rang.

"'ello?" answered Lindsay, still sounding sleepy.

"Lindsay Monroe?" replied the male voice.

"Speaking, who is this?" Lindsay asked, trying to sound more awake.

"This is Lieutenant Phillips and I'm the range officer with the NYPD range. I saw that you were scheduled to come in and do your qualification on Friday, but we had a cancellation and was wondering if you would like to come in today?" Lieutenant Phillips said to her.

"Um, let me check with my boss to make sure it's ok and to let him know what's going on. Can I get your number and call you back?" Lindsay asked with a pit in her stomach. She knew Mac would be fine with it, hell he would probably be ecstatic. She grabbed a notepad and pen that she kept by her bed.

"Sure," came Lieutenant Phillips reply, "The number here to the range office is 212-426-8900, and I'll look forward to seeing you this afternoon."

They said their goodbyes and hung up. Lindsay groaned loudly into her pillow. This was not what she wanted to do today. What was so wrong about wanting to go to work, do her job to the best of her ability, and help put bad people away without having to fire a gun! She smacked her mattress with her fist; damn it she thought, what a way to start what could have been a great day. She got up out of bed, grabbed her robe and padded to the bathroom. If she was going to have to do this today, she was going to at least have a hot shower first.

A couple of blocks away in his apartment, Danny was sitting on the couch, the Today Show was playing on the television. They were doing some holiday gift giving segment, but he wasn't really taking it in though, he was too preoccupied thinking about last night. How it had been fun to have someone to decorate with and how it had been wonderful to spend time with Lindsay outside of the lab. While he would never admit it to anyone, at least not easily, he was completely infatuated with Lindsay. He shut the television off and stood up. She ought to be up by now, Danny thought looking at his watch, I think I'll swing by and surprise her with breakfast. He grabbed his coat and walked out the door. While he was heading down in the elevator, he remembered that Lindsay said that she wasn't a breakfast person when he teased her about having a salad and soup. When the elevator door opened, he had a plan all laid out in his head. He started to whistle softly as he headed out the front door.

Lindsay got out of the shower and got dressed. She chose faded blue jeans, a white tee shirt with a burgundy v-neck sweatshirt. It wasn't something that she would normally have worn to work, but since this was turning out to be something other than a normal day, she thought she might as well be comfortable. She picked up the phone and called Mac.

"Mac Taylor" came his voice as he picked up.

"Hey Mac, it's Lindsay." She said into the receiver. "I got a call this morning from a Lieutenant Phillips. He would like me to come into today to do my qualification instead of on Friday since they had a cancellation. I told him that I had to check with you to make sure that you didn't need me in the lab, because if you do I'll keep my Friday appointment, it's ok. I'm sure they can find someone else to take the spot." Lindsay knew she was babbling, but she hoped that if she talked long enough Mac would just tell her to go on Friday.

"Go ahead Lindsay, we've got enough people to cover for today. Take as much time as you need, this is important." He stressed the last word to her, hoping that she would take it seriously. He couldn't have her being locked in the lab, when she was so good out in the field.

"Oh, are you sure? Because I can always keep the appointment on Friday, I really don't mind." Lindsay asked once more; hoping that he would change his mind.

"Lindsay, the lab will be fine for one day." Mac reiterated, "Go get it done and over with, you'll feel a lot better." His voice was caring and concerned.

"Thanks Mac." Lindsay hung up the phone and threw it into the cushions on the couch. She went and picked it back up and she dialed the range office's number.

"NYPD Range, how can I help you?" The voice on the end was way too perky.

"Hi, my name is Lindsay Monroe, is Lieutenant Phillips available?" Lindsay asked politely.

"Sure, can you hold please?" and without waiting for an answer, she placed Lindsay on hold. The hold music was Christmas-y instrumental pieces. After a few minutes Lieutenant Phillips picked up. They talked for a few minutes, confirmed that she would be at the range around 3 and hung up.

Lindsay threw the phone back onto the couch and flopped down beside it. She suddenly realized she was hungry, so she stood back up and went into the kitchen to look for something to eat. She had just started to weigh her options, leftover pizza from last night or leftover chicken from two nights ago, when she heard the buzzer. She shut the refrigerator door, smiled as she passed the beautiful roses Danny gave her last night, and walked over to the intercom.

"Who is it" she asked after pushing the talk button.

"Delivery" came the reply, and Lindsay recognized the voice. She smiled.

"Come on up." Lindsay pressed the button to unlock the front door and opened her door a crack, she couldn't believe that he would surprise her like this. Maybe the day was starting to get better. She listened at the door for his footsteps and when she heard them, she opened the door all the way.

"Good morning," she said, as she leaned into kiss him. "What brings you by so early? Shouldn't you be enjoying your day off or something?"

"Well I got to thinking, that since I have some things to do, I would like to share breakfast with you before you have to go to work." Danny said smiling. "And what was with buzzing me in without asking who it was?" Danny walked over to the table and set the bag on it.

"I knew it was you." Lindsay said, following him over to the table. "So what did you bring me for breakfast?" She kissed him again.

Danny started taking out the items that he had brought. He set several small styrofoam containers on the table, until the bag was empty. She stood there and watched him as he went to gather two plates, two bowls and both spoons and forks.

"Wanna help me here?" He asked smiling. She loved how his accent seemed to get thicker when he was trying to be cute. She grabbed some of the dishes from him.

"See I figured since you have to be at work at 1 that I would come and bring you a healthy, nutritious brunch, since I know you said you're not a real breakfast type person, who, and I quote, prefers food that doesn't come out of an animals' butt." He smiled at her, as a light tint of red crossed her checks. "I would bring you a nice meal that would stick to your ribs."

"Well…" Lindsay started.

"I brought you creamy chicken soup, lots of fresh fruit salad, some homemade mashed potatoes, and mixed veggies with cheese." Danny smiled at her, proud of himself. "And for desert homemade cherry jubilee custard."

"Danny you are so sweet and thoughtful, why aren't you like this at work." Lindsay smiled and kissed him.

When they had broken apart, Danny had a playfully hurt look on his face.

"What do you mean I'm not this way at work? I'm always kind, sweet, and thoughtful at work…maybe you just haven't been around to see it." He teased her and was rewarded with a swat on the arm. "Hey now"

"Well I have a surprise for you too." Lindsay said as she helped herself to some of the chicken soup. "I don't have to go into work until later."

"Why?" asked Danny curiously, "Everything ok?"

"Yeah, I just have to go to the range around 3 to do that stupid qualification thing since the city thinks we're all incompetent and would walk into a situation where we would be defenseless." Lindsay finished and started to help herself to the veggies, "Besides, who in their right mind would just go into a possibly dangerous situation without backup?"

"Yeah…well…" Danny shifted uncomfortably, "Situations happen Linds, you can't always predict or prepare for the situations you're put into on the job." His mind jumped back to the situation in the subway that took him off the promotion grid. His face tightened.

"Speaking from experience Danny?" Lindsay had noticed that his face had changed, like all emotion had just been wiped away. "Look, I'm not saying that you can, I just don't want to be forced to do it, I believe it should be our choice to learn to fire a weapon. Unfortunately, no one else seems to share my opinion. I feel like I'm the only one that doesn't carry a gun out into the field." She took another bite of soup.

"Hawkes doesn't." Danny said without thinking. He was still thinking back to that subway.

"Hawkes could sell ice to the Eskimos." Lindsay replied, "The soup is really good, where's it from?"

"I got it from the corner deli by my building." Danny answered, "They do pretty much anything you ask. I'd bet they would make a 15 course meal if you asked."

"Danny, you ok?" Lindsay noticed he had shut down. There seemed to be no emotion of any kind flowing from him. "Did I say something wrong?" She started to worry she had upset him.

"Yeah, everything's fine." Danny answered quietly, "Let's just finish brunch ok?" He flashed her a weak smile.

"Ok" said Lindsay. Great, she thought to herself, I've screwed it up after just a day and maybe a half.

When they were full, Lindsay started to clear things away from the table, and was shocked when Danny grabbed her hand and led her to the couch. They sat down, Danny turned so that he could look at her.

"Did I ever tell you about the case in the subway, where an undercover cop was shot?" Danny asked, when Lindsay shook her head no, he continued, "The cop was shot by me."

Lindsay mouth formed a small O, and her eyes went wide with shock, but Danny pressed on. He needed her to understand why this new regulation was so important.

"I was processing a scene where someone had been shot. I had been going around checking the place for weapons and trace. Someone jumped at me from the closet and ran. I left the scene, and chased after him. It turned into a 3 way shoot-out. Myself, the undercover cop, who I thought was the suspect, and the real suspect all fired. There were bullets going everywhere and when it was all said and done, he was done, I was hit, and the suspect was gone. It was stupid on my part, but my adrenaline was pumping and I fired wildly."

"Was anyone hurt?" Lindsay asked, fearing the answer slightly.

"The undercover was shot and killed by the actual suspect. My bullet was never found. Mac took me off the promotion grid." Danny rubbed his forehead, "I knew better. But if I hadn't had my gun, I could have been killed, or the suspect could have gotten away. Or worse, I could have been killed."

"But an innocent person was _killed_ Danny." Lindsay stressed. She couldn't believe he was trying to justify the regulation.

"Lindsay, I understand what you're saying, and the example I'm using is bad. But what would you do if you were in that situation, you didn't know who had caught you off guard at a crime scene by jumping out of a closet at you?" Danny asked, almost pleading with her to understand. "Tell me what you have against this regulation."

"It's not that I have anything against it…well not technically, anyway. I think it's a good sound idea for those who want to participate. I just don't want anything to do with guns, is that ok?" Lindsay stopped. She knew she was going to get defensive and she was trying to not take out her personal demons on Danny. "I just have issues with guns and I don't want to have to deal with them, guns I mean, not my demons."

"Lindsay, what happened? I saw you in the hall with Mac a week or so ago, and I know yesterday you were pretty po'd coming out of his office. Tell me what's bothering you so much about this regulation. Please." Asked Danny, taking her hand and looking into her eyes.

"I haven't talked about it in years. I don't even know where to begin…" started Lindsay, the tears already forming in her eyes.


	11. Her Past Revealed

_**A/N: Same disclosures apply as in previous 10 chapters, please read, enjoy, and review. Thanks to all of the wonderful people who have read this story!**_

"Lindsay, it's ok." Danny said soothingly, rubbing the back of her hand with his thumb. "You'll feel better once you get it out in the open. It's not good to keep things bottled up inside."

Lindsay looked at him, staring at his eyes. She wanted to trust him, she wanted to be able to tell him everything that had happened on that horrible day.

"I don't even know where to begin," Lindsay repeated. "It's been so long…" Her voice faded as she dropped her eyes from his, hanging her head like a child who had just been scolded.

Danny didn't know what else to do. He didn't want to force her to talk about it, and he didn't want to just leave her either. He didn't want her going to the range with all of this on her chest, she fail for sure.

"Lindsay, can I ask you a question?" Danny asked her after a few minutes of silence.

"Sure" was her quiet reply.

"Why did you come to New York? What was it that made you travel 2300 miles from the only home you've ever known to a city that is completely foreign and different in everyway?" Danny asked

"I don't know." Lindsay answered honestly. "I felt claustrophobic there, the pay was crappy, everyone knew me. I was sick of the small town atmosphere where everyone knew what happened and had made a decision about who the guilty party was before the evidence could be deciphered. I had applied at other labs for different positions you know. I had resumes in Miami, Las Vegas, Washington…New York was the first one that called and I was desperate to leave." Lindsay looked up at him again. "I'm glad I came to New York though, even though there are times that I don't feel like I belong here, because if I hadn't I would have never met you." She felt her cheeks grow warm but she didn't care.

Danny stared at her, they hadn't ever really talked about what they were the night before, just that they didn't want everyone to find out at once. Her eyes were still wet from tears and a little red and puffy, but she looked gorgeous. Danny didn't know why it had taken him so long to realize it, he was counting his stars it was him she was with and not someone else. Danny pulled her into a hug and told her that he was glad she had chosen New York too.

They stayed that way for several minutes. Content in the silence of only their breathing. It was Lindsay, however, who spoke first.

"I'm going to tell you what happened." She said determinedly, "But I have you not to interrupt, because once I get going it will probably be very hard for me to stop and start again. Deal?" She looked at her watch, it read ten o'clock, she wanted to make sure she had enough time to get this all in.

"Deal" answered Danny, willing to do whatever it took to get her to open up about her past.

"I haven't always lived in Montana. When I was young, my parents were young too. They had me when they were only about 20, so add a small child to that, along with debt, and hard times all around. Things were stressed and tight. My parents thought it would be best to send me to live with my grandmother, who was considerably more financially stable, in Chicago. There was a lot of gang related activity in my grandmother's neighborhood, however that she failed to disclose to them, since she felt that she would be able to keep a child of five or six years old safe and she didn't want them to worry more than they had to. I give her credit she did it for about 2 years, we would never go out of the house after dark, never left the doors unlock, had bullet proof glass installed in all of the windows – even in the car. She tried everything." Lindsay took a shaky breath, she was struggling to hold back the tears. "Have you ever told a child who wants nothing more than to go out and play on a bright sunshiny day that they can't because it could get them killed? I was 6 when I first heard it. I was from Montana, where being outside is like breathing for some people, I loved smelling flowers and running through fields. But I couldn't do that there. I remember one time, Gram tried to take me ice-skating because I had gotten really good grades in school, and it was my reward for working so hard. I had just gotten my skates on when Gram practically dragged me back to the car because there was a gang shoot out on the rink."

Danny uttered a low wow, almost not believing that this had been part of Lindsay's childhood. Happy go lucky Lindsay, his Lindsay.

"Yeah. I watched them from the car as we drove away. They were smiling. They were shooting these guns, hurting people, and all the time they were smiling. It was almost as if they liked it or enjoyed it." Lindsay stopped again, trying to quell the tears that were burning to be released from her eyes.

Danny pulled her into him, so her back was against his chest and wrapped his arms around her. He kissed the back of her head, he knew how hard this was for her.

"The day before I went back to Montana, my Gram wanted to take me shopping for some new clothes, it was winter and I had outgrown a lot of my old winter clothes. She wanted to make sure her "Linny" would stay warm in that cold Montana winter. She used to call me Linny, and I hated it. We had driven out to the mall, and everything was fine, but we got distracted, lost track of the time and ended up leaving later than we wanted. When we were walking to our car, we were approached by three teenagers, they wanted her purse, jewelry, you know the basics of robbery." Lindsay stopped again, trying to keep her composure. For some reason it was easier telling him all of this being in his arms, she felt so safe.

"Gram said no. Said that she wasn't going to just give everything that she have worked for to three bullying uneducated thugs who refused to work for anything in life. I remember her thinking that she was just being stupid, that we should have just given them what they wanted. After all, no one else stood up to them, why should she have? I also remember thinking that she was brave, telling them no, because it wasn't theirs to take, it was her, ours. The next thing I remember were the shots. There must have been 10 or 15 shots, I looked it up when I was older, they had shot her 10 times, emptied the clip. I remember looking into their faces while it happened, and they were smiling, it was like they wanted her to defy them, to fight. They were happy!" Lindsay started to yell and cry. "They killed her and I didn't do anything about it. I didn't try to grab the gun or defend her, I just let them shoot her. She was brave and I was a chicken! She fell to the ground and they ran, they didn't even take what they wanted."

Lindsay was sobbing so hard now she was shaking both herself and Danny. She felt Danny's arms tighten around her, whether it be to hold her or him still, she didn't know. She felt him kiss the back of her head and whisper soothing words into her ear.

"I remember her blood soaking into the snow. I remember the smell of gun powder in the air, it made me nauseous, I threw up on a car. But the rest is a blur, until I got back to Montana. I just remember being so angry because I knew that those thugs wouldn't be brought to justice." Lindsay said, "I remember asking my parents once about Gram, and all they would tell me was that she was in a better place and I was safe." She laughed slightly, "I knew I was safe. I think they were worried that I thought they would come after me. That wasn't my problem, I wanted justice for her." She sat up and turned to look at him.

"My problem with this regulation Danny is that there is way too much violence with guns. I don't want to contribute to it, I don't want to be a part of it again. I just want to do my job, and do it well. I'm supposed to do the work behind the scenes, I'm not a cop. I don't want to hold a gun, or shoot anything or anyone." Lindsay paused, "I'm afraid that if I shoot a gun I will like it and become like them." She said the last sentence so quietly it was almost inaudible. She sat back against Danny, and felt his arms encircle her again.

"So that's my big problem with this regulation Danny. I don't want to be forced to shoot a gun because I'm afraid that I will enjoy it and become like the people who got away with murdering my grandmother." Lindsay wiped the tears away with the sleeve of her sweatshirt.

"Lindsay, you could never become like them." Danny told her. "You are one of the most level headed people I know, and that's saying something. You would never take advantage of your position just to cause harm to another person. Ever since I've met you, you've always been determined to solve cases to help people."

Lindsay tilted her head back to look at Danny, without having to leave her comfortable spot.

"You really think so? I was beginning to think that you wished I would have stayed in Montana when I first met you" Lindsay told him.

"Lindsay, when I first met you, I was irritated that you were replacing Aiden, but it had nothing to do with you. How could I have not noticed you though? You are gorgeous, you look like you could belong on a runway or a magazine cover, not in a crime lab." Danny kissed her forehead, and then looked at his watch. It read a little after one. Wow, he thought, they had been talking for a little over 3 hours. "Now, what time do you have to be at the range?"

"Around three, at least that's when Lieutenant Phillips said to be there." answered Lindsay, looking at her watch. "I planned on leaving her around two, two-fifteen."

"And you have directions on how to get there right?" asked Danny, smiling at her, and by the reaction on her face, he knew that she didn't have them.

"Um…" Lindsay started to answer.

"How about this, I had planned on doing some shooting practice today, why don't we just go together?" Danny smiled at her. Lindsay suspected that he was lying, but she was grateful for the offer.

"Didn't you already do your qualification?" She asked and felt him shrug, "It's ok Danny, I'll just take a taxi, if you just want to give me the address." answered Lindsay, she didn't want to make a pain of herself, she knew that he probably had other things to do today other than carting her directionally-challenged butt all over New York. She arched her back up to kiss him fully on the lips. Man, they felt good, she thought.

"Nah," said Danny, "I told you I was planning on going over there anyway." He tightened his grip around her again. "So is that why you became a CSI to help prevent people from getting away with crimes?"

Lindsay sat for a minute and thought, "Yes, I couldn't stand the thought of people getting away with breaking the law. I wanted to be a cop when I was little but then I learned you had to have weapons testing and I didn't want to do that. So when I was talking things over with my guidance counselor in high school, she suggested a more "behind the scenes" role and here I am."

"And, again, I'm glad you're here." Danny said again, and he spun her around to face him, so that her legs were straddling his hips but her butt was still on the couch, and was going to say something but Lindsay beat him to it.

"Are we dating Danny?"


	12. Answers and Other Things

**_A/N: Same Disclosures apply as in previous Chapters. Please understand that I really don't know how the NYPD goes about qualifications or how their range works, just taking some literary license. Please enjoy reading and review! Happy Holidays! _**

Chapter 12

Danny stared at Lindsay, dumbstruck. He had been thinking about asking her the same thing, but to hear it voiced out loud, caught him by surprise. He felt her starting to pull away, the shock must have been registering on his face.

"Lindsay wait," Danny called from the sofa at her retreating form. He heard a door close. He walked down the hallway, her bedroom door was open, so he knocked on the only other door closed in the hall. "Lindsay, talk to me. You caught me by surprise." Even he knew it was a weak response.

Lindsay looked at herself in the mirror. How could I have been so stupid, she thought, How could I have thought that Daniel Messer could actually be interested in dating such a hick from Montana. She must have been voicing her opinions out loud, because she heard him replying to her from the other side of the door.

"I am interested in you, more than you could ever imagine, and you are not a hick from Montana!" Danny said. "Please come out and talk to me."

"Danny, just go home." Lindsay pleaded. She couldn't give him anymore ammunition than she had already. Half the lab will know about this tomorrow, she thought, just what I wanted for Christmas. She sat down on the toilet as the tears began to fall again.

"Lindsay, come out here and talk to me, please!" Danny beseeched. "I really want to talk to you, please…" Danny sat down against the wall across from the bathroom door. The bathroom door still didn't open. Danny knocked his head back against the wall. "Lindsay, I'm not leaving until we talk." He said with finality in his voice.

"You started this! You made me like you!" Came her voice from the other side of the door. "You were just being nice to me to get more inside information to use against me!" She was sobbing, her words broken by her crying.

Danny's heart ached. He knocked his head back against the wall again. He didn't know what to do. He didn't want to leave; he wanted to talk to her to sort all of this out.

"Lindsay, look, I know I was a real horse's ass when we first met, and I am truly sorry. I've already explained that it wasn't you. I was pissed because Aiden had gotten fired and I would have been that way to anyone who came in." Danny stopped to listen for a moment. "Lindsay I wasn't just being nice to get information, I really do like you. I wouldn't have spent all last night and been back over here the first chance I got this morning if I didn't. Please come out and talk to me?" Danny paused again, looking at his watch. "If you don't want to talk to me, please come out so that I can get you to the range on time. I want to go with you; I don't want my favorite partner stuck in the lab instead of being in the field with me."

There was a sound of running water on the other side of the door. Then the sound of a door being opened and closed. Then the lock clicked and the knob turned. Danny stood up.

"I don't want to go." She said simply once the door was opened. Once again, her face was red, puffy, and wet. "I don't care if I'm a lab rat for the rest of my life, I really don't care." She muffled as he pulled her into his arms and ran his hand through her hair.

"Lindsay it's ok, you'll – we'll get through it, together." Danny said soothingly into her hair, while rubbing her back. "I'm really sorry I was such a juvenile when we first met, but I did it because, not only Aiden, but I wanted to see how capable you were."

"So it was like a test or an initiation?" She asked looking up at him questioningly.

"Like I said I acted like a juvenile." Danny repeated. "Come on, we have got to go if you're gonna make it on time."

Lindsay groaned as they broke apart. Danny helped her with her coat, and then they were out the door to the range.

Meanwhile, back at the lab, Mac Taylor was sitting at his desk, hands clasped it front of him looking out at the skyline. He looked like he was in deep concentration.

"Penny for your thoughts?" asked his favorite curly haired CSI. Stella was leaning against the door frame, smiling.

Mac smiled back at her and gestured for her to come in and sit down. She took the chair that he had motioned to.

"So what's going on Mac? I know that look." Stella said.

"Just thinking about this whole new regulation and how fired up its got Lindsay." Mac said, sharing his thoughts. Maybe Stella can give me a woman's perspective on it. "It can't be just a dislike for guns. There has to be something else behind it."

"Mac some people just don't like guns. There's no rhyme or reason behind it." Stella said wisely, "Maybe Lindsay is just one of those people. Besides, like you told her earlier, all she has to do is be qualified in order to go out into the field, she doesn't need to carry a gun or even handle one again until her next qualification." Stella smiled.

"Yeah but Stella, it just doesn't feel that way." said Mac, staring again out at the skyline.

"Well," said Stella, "you could always ask Danny." Stella smiled at Mac again, "They've been acting weird around each other. Like they're trying to hide something…Never thought I would say that about another CSI." Stella laughed.

"Is that so?" Mac asked curiously, raising an eyebrow, "You'd think that with as much as they banter back and forth they wouldn't want to spend anymore time with each other."

"Well Mac, you know what they say…" Stella trailed off, "Remember when you were in Junior High? You'd always tease the one you like."

Stella and Mac laughed with each other, and smiled.

"Would you want to go grab a cup of coffee and a bagel on the corner?" asked Mac, "It seems like it's slow today"

"Sure." Said Stella.

Danny and Lindsay pulled into the range parking lot. The hem of Lindsay's shirt had been twisted and untwisted probably about a thousand times on the ride. Danny had watched her the whole ride there, and had tried to engage her in conversation several times to no avail.

"Lindsay" Danny said taking her hand to stop her from twisting her shirt again, "It's going to be ok. We're going to get through this. It's going to ok, we're going to go in, practice, and then you're going to qualify." Danny tried to reassure her.

The look on her face was a look of terror, mixed with an emotion that Danny couldn't read, panic maybe. Danny leaned over and kissed her gently on the lips, then hopped out of his SUV. He jogged over to her side of the car and opened the door for Lindsay to get out. Once Lindsay was out of the SUV, Danny wrapped his arm around her shoulders, kissed the side of her head, and locked the vehicle with the keyless entry remote.

Once inside the range building, Lindsay gripped onto Danny's hand for dear life. The perky woman that Lindsay had talked to this morning was sitting at the front desk. Lindsay could tell that it was her, just by the way that she had been talking into the phone when they had walked in. Lindsay approached her, reading her desk plaque that said her name was Karmella.

"Hi, how can I help you?" Karmella asked, smiling and being way too perky, even for three in the afternoon. Lindsay looked at her for a moment. Karmella had a big smiled on her face and was just radiating with unused energy. Someone needs to switch this girl to decaf, Lindsay thought.

"Yes, hi. My name is Lindsay Monroe. I have an appointment with Lieutenant Phillips." said Lindsay.

"Ok." She paused. "He's in his office." She paused again. "I'll get him for you." She started to stand up from her desk. "Um...Have a seat." She gestured to some chairs. She half walked half skipped away from her desk.

"Ok, rocket scientist she is not." Lindsay said quietly to Danny as they sat down in the seats she had motioned to.

"Hey…that's my sister that you're talking about." Danny said, in a shocked manner.

"Oh. No." Lindsay sputtered, "I was merely observing that she's very perky…" Lindsay turned to look at Danny with a horrified look. "I'm sorry" she said meekly.

Danny burst out laughing. Lindsay looked at him oddly. He was now laughing so hard he was holding his sides.

"Lindsay" Danny gasped for air, "I'm sorry." He gasped for air again. "I'm really sorry, I was" another gasp "trying to lighten the mood." Danny finally had regained control of his body. "She's not really my sister, I've only met her once before. I'm really sorry."

Lindsay smacked his arm, and sat straight up in her chair with her arms crossed against her chest.

"That was not funny, Messer." She breathed. Her face was scrunched up in anger. "That was not funny at all."

Danny leaned over to rest his head on Lindsay's shoulder. He stuck out his bottom lip, "I'm sorry…I was just trying to get you to relax. Everything's going to be ok. Forgive me?"

Lindsay looked over at him and couldn't help but laugh. He was staring at her with his lower lip out as far as it would go and giving her sad puppy dog eyes.

"For now--" was all Lindsay got to say because just then a tall man with broad shoulders approached them.

"Miss Monroe I presume?" Lieutenant Phillips asked, directing his attention completely at Lindsay, not noticing Danny sitting next to her.

"Yes, call me Lindsay please. Lieutenant Phillips?" Lindsay asked. She studied Lieutenant Phillips for a moment, he was an older man, perhaps in his mid 50's, with a what looked to be a full head of slightly graying hair. He reminded Lindsay a lot of her father.

"At your service. And please call me Doug. Are you ready?" He gave her a warm smile.

"What am I chopped liver?" asked Danny jokingly as he stood up.

"Danny Messer. What are you doing here?" Doug hugged Danny sincerely.

"Helping my girlfriend through her first time shooting a weapon." He answered as they broke apart.

Doug looked at Lindsay, the shock evident on his face. She felt the color rise in her cheeks.

"You've never shot a gun before Lindsay? Ever?" Doug asked.

"No, never." answered Lindsay, "I'm really nervous, and I really don't even want to be here." Lindsay started to babble but Doug stopped her.

"It's ok Lindsay, we have plenty of people who come through here who have never wanted or had to use a weapon before. You'll be fine." Doug smiled at her again. "Besides, you've got two of the best teachers that you could possibly have, isn't that right Danny?" He turned to look at Danny.

"Well I couldn't put her in better hands than yours, PD." Danny said smiling, and taking Lindsay's hand.

"PD?" Lindsay asked curiously, looking from one to the other.

"I thought you would have forgotten that name by now. Actually I hoped that you had forgotten that name by now." Doug said shaking his head, laughing.

"Doug's initials are D. P. so I just reversed them. And it's kind of comical since he works for the police department…" Danny trailed off.

"Oh, makes sense now." Said Lindsay, "So, not to change the subject or break up this happy reunion, but how quickly can I get this qualification over with?"

"Come with me." Doug smiled at her, "We'll got through the basics, give you a little while to practice, and then we'll run you through the gauntlet."

Danny saw Lindsay tense at the word "gauntlet", so he leaned over to her and whispered in her ear,

"It's just slang for test, you're going to do fine. You've got the NYPD's weapons expert with you. I'm not kidding you when I say he's the best."

Lindsay smiled at Danny, she relaxed slightly. Well, she thought to herself, here goes nothing. Worse comes to worse, I'll be stuck in the lab, not that I want to be. Danny and Lindsay, holding hands, along with Doug went into his office to start to go over the basics.


	13. Center of Mass

_**A/N: Same disclosures apply as in all previous chapters. Please read and review! Happy Holidays!**_

Chapter 13

Lindsay sat in Doug's office for almost two hours, going over weapon safety, loading and unloading, cleaning, and other basics. Now she was finally out on the firing range, with Danny and Doug. She looked at Danny, and while he wasn't being overly protective, he was never far away and she was grateful that he was there. She knew that he was keeping a careful eye on her, even if he didn't seem like it.

"Lindsay, I'm going to have you take a few practice shots. You're going to want to aim for center of mass of the target." Doug was instructing her. "The pistol is going to kick a little just so you're aware."

"Ok, so" Lindsay was just clarifying her instructions, "I'm going to aim for the center of that target down there? If that was a real person, wouldn't that pretty much kill them?"

"Lindsay," Doug started, "the purpose for this regulation isn't for you to just injure the person, you're going to want to do as much damage as possible. I know that sounds harsh, but you're going to want to make sure that you can get away quickly, and to preserve the scene as much as possible." Doug paused, seeing that he wasn't really getting through to her; he looked to Danny, who just shrugged his shoulders, for help. "Lindsay think about it this way. You're processing a scene, someone surprises you and is trying to hurt you or get incriminating evidence away from you. Your first response isn't going to be just to give it up, is it?" He cocked his head the side, and raised an eyebrow. "He's going to be fighting you as hard as possible to make sure that you don't complete your job, you should be prepared to fight just as hard."

Danny could see that something had finally clicked inside Lindsay's head. He saw her eyes form that steely resolve that this is something that she needed to do and that she was determined to do well.

"Ok." Lindsay said with a serious voice, "Center mass."

"Alright, put your ear protection on, and I'll signal when you're good to go." Doug said.

Lindsay donned her ear muffs, and waited for Doug's signal. He gave her the thumbs up sign. She locked the clip into place, and switched the safety off. She stood as Doug and Danny had showed her, and gently squeezed the trigger. Her eyes seemed to focus on the area where the sternum would be. She continued to aim and fire until the clip was empty. She clicked the safety on, and took the clip out of the gun. She set everything down on the little shelf in front of her, and then took off her ear muffs.

Doug and Danny walked over closer to where she was, and Doug brought her target up closer so that they could see where she had hit. As the target came closer, Lindsay could see that all ten of her shots had hit the target, not all in the direct center but fairly close.

"Very good Lindsay, very good. You could use this as your qualification if you wanted to." Doug offered, "Only three of your shots fell outside of the range needed to pass."

"Great job Linds." Danny said, agreeing with Doug, "You don't have to go again if you don't want to."

"No." said Lindsay solidly, "I want to go again." She looked from Danny to Doug and then back to Danny.

"Ok. Let's go again then." Doug said smiling. "Go ahead and get ready, I'll give the signal."

Lindsay went back to her booth area and Danny resumed his spot. Lindsay saw Doug give the signal and Lindsay again emptied the clip into the target. Again, Lindsay repeated the process of putting the safety on, took out the clip and rested it on the shelf. Again, Doug and Danny came in, pulled the target forward. Lindsay saw that only 1 of her shots missed this time.

"Wow." said Doug, staring at her target, "you are one quick study Miss Lindsay Monroe." Doug smiled proudly at her. "I do believe that you are the quickest person I've ever had the pleasure of teaching to shoot."

Lindsay turned as crimson flooded her cheeks. "Have you ever had to teach someone as stubborn as me?" she asked quietly. She heard Danny stifle a snicker, trying to cover it with a cough. Doug however laughed and put his arm around her shoulders.

"Lindsay, I've had worse. Not by much, but I've had worse." Doug reassured her, then he turned to Danny, "You've got a fire cracker here. Don't let her go." He turned back to Lindsay, "Are we going to go again?"

Lindsay shook her head, "I think I've had enough for awhile." She walked over to Danny, who wrapped his arms around her waist, and she rested her head on his shoulder. She felt exhausted, completely drained.

They said their goodbyes and Danny helped guide her to the car. He opened her door for her and then jogged over to his side and got in.

"Call Mac." He said simply as he looked at her.

"Why?" She asked as she rolled her head on the headrest to look at him. She was fighting to keep her eyes open.

"Because you're exhausted and if you're exhausted you're not going to be worth a dime to the lab." Danny explained, and as soon as the words came out of his mouth, he wished that he had finessed them slightly.

Rolling her eyes, Lindsay said "Thanks Danny. Means a lot." She was smiling however.

"Mac will understand Lindsay, just call him." Danny asked again as he started to drive away from the range.

"Danny," Lindsay said sleepily, "Can we just go back to my place? I want to take a hot shower."

Danny looked over at Lindsay, her eyes were closed and her breathing was even. He shook his head with a slight smile, she was asleep already.

He pulled into the parking area at her building and parked his vehicle. He watched her for a few minutes, then got out of the vehicle. He walked over to her side, opened her door and leaned in.

"Lindsay" said Danny, he rested his hand on her arm. "Lindsay wake up." She shifted slightly, but didn't wake up. "Lindsay…Lindsay…" He said a little louder. Again, she shifted slightly, but again, did not wake.

Danny gave up trying to wake her and gently lifted her out of the vehicle; she responded by cuddling into his shoulder and wrapping her arms around his neck. He carried her to the elevator to take her up to her apartment, gently fishing her keys out of her pocket to open the door.

Once inside the apartment, he gently laid her down on the couch and covered her with the blanket that was on the back of the couch. He then picked up the phone and called Mac.

"Taylor" came the response on the other end of the line.

"Mac, it's Danny" Danny cut to the chase, not wanting to keep his superior on the phone too long, knowing he was probably working on something big. "Is it possible Lindsay could take a paid holiday today or something?"

"Why what's wrong?" Mac voice resonated concern, "Is she ok?"

"Yeah, she's fine" answered Danny, "she's just beat. Her qualification took a lot out of her today and she's sacked on the sofa right now."

"Yeah, that's fine." Mac said, relieved it was nothing serious, "How did it go anyway?"

"P.D said that she's one of the quickest studies he's ever seen." Danny answered honestly, "She missed three on the first try and one on the second."

"Good." Said Mac, "Well, you just let her know that it's ok for her to relax today, I'll take care of the paperwork."

"Thanks Mac," said Danny, "We'll see you tomorrow."

"Oh, and Danny…" said Mac, "Let her know I said good job, I knew she could do it. I'm glad that she has someone to care for her." And Mac hung up.

Danny set the phone down quietly and walked back over to the couch. She was talking in her sleep again.

"Danny, don't let them." She cried softly, "I didn't do it. No…"

Danny kneeled at her side, grasped her hand, and told her that he was there for her.

Her cries died and she settled down again. He stayed there for like 5 minutes, just making sure that she was ok. He stood up and started to go into the kitchen, when he heard her again.

"Danny will you lay down with me…I don't want to be alone." Lindsay cried again softly.

_**A/N: Ok….I'm so sorry this chapter wasn't up before Christmas like I promised to a lot of people…Things here just got hectic, then I hit writer's block, uck! I'm also sorry that it's not as long as previous ones. The next one should be longer and contain more action…**_


	14. A Small Towel

_**A/N: Same Disclosures apply as in all previous chapters. Please read and review, but above all enjoy…**_

Chapter 14

Lindsay woke up, and blinked several times. The apartment was dark, light was filtering the windows from the moon that had risen high into the sky. She suddenly became aware of the warmth coming from behind her, the arm around her waist, and the blanket covering them both.

Danny, she thought, and was surprised to realize how comforting that thought was. She settled into a slightly more comfortable spot against Danny, who in turn shift slightly in his sleep, moving his hand so that it rested directly against Lindsay's abdomen. Lindsay tensed slightly, she wasn't used to Danny touching her so intimately. Kissing was one thing, but touching…Lindsay relaxed, realizing how much she liked his touch. His hand was soft, which was surprising to Lindsay, she thought that they would be rough, seeing as how they wore latex gloves for most of the day. Lindsay's stomach growled loudly, she hadn't eaten anything since Danny had brought over brunch that morning.

"Hey, Sleeping Beauty…" came a sleepy voice from behind her, "I heard that."

"Heard what exactly?" Lindsay said as she rolled over to face him.

"I heard that you were hungry," said Danny, he hadn't even opened his eyes but he could tell that she was smiling, "Would you like me to make dinner or would you like to cook?"

Lindsay stretched beside him; he felt her shirt rise a little bit, uncovering his hand. She held that position for a few minutes, then returned to her old position, cuddled into him.

"What would you make me? Do you make food half as good as your uncle?" Lindsay asked teasingly.

"Who do you think taught me to cook?" Danny smiled, opening his eyes to look at her. I could get used to think, he thought to himself. "And what I make depends on what you would like and what you have in your kitchen."

Lindsay stared at him for a minute. She couldn't help but think to herself just how right this felt, laying down her in his arms, discussing food options. She closed the gap between them, bringing her lips to his, kissing him deeply.

She felt him pull her body closer to his. Her free hand soon found its way up into Danny's hair. She loved way his hair felt, soft and spiky all at the same time, as she ran her hand through it.

One of Danny's hands was rubbing her back gently, while the other hand pulled her left leg up over his so that he could rub the back of her thigh and pull her closer all at the same time. Lindsay moaned softly, and Danny found it incredibly sexy. He moved from her lips down to the spot right behind her ear. He placed small kissed there, trying to elicit another moan from her. He was successful. He moved from there down her neck, to a spot between her collarbone and her neck. His hand move from her thigh back to her stomach and was inching ever upwards.

Lindsay was enjoying the feel of his skin against hers, getting lost in the moment, when the phone rang.

"Leave it," Danny half growled, "You're not on call and it's not my phone." He then intensified his barrage of kisses on her, but was disappointed when he felt her move away.

"Danny," she said sadly, "I have to get it, it could be important."

Lindsay moved far enough to pick up the phone, before sinking back into the warmth of Danny and the blanket.

"Hello?" Lindsay said.

No answer.

"Hello?" Lindsay said again, this time looking at Danny.

Still, no answer came from the other end, but Lindsay could hear something like breathing.

"Look, I think you have the wrong number." Lindsay said finally into the receiver and hung up.

"No answer." She said to Danny, "Now where were we?"

Lindsay leaned back into kiss him, tracing his lips with her tongue before deepening the kiss. Danny's stomach grumbled. Lindsay pulled back and giggled slightly. She saw a hint of color rise in Danny's cheeks.

"Guess that means it really is time for dinner." Lindsay said smiling, as she pulled the blanket off of them. She stood up, and tried to help Danny up, who succeeding in pulling her back down on top of him.

"Danny…" she said as his lips met hers and his stomach growled again.

"Ok, ok" said Danny, doing his best pout and puppy dog eyes.

They got up off the couch and padded into the kitchen area. Lindsay started to open cupboards and pull ingredients out. Danny opened the freezer and pulled out some chicken.

"Do you have any spaghetti or angel hair pasta?" Danny asked as he started to thaw the chicken.

"Um..." Lindsay opened another cupboard, pulled out a box of angel hair pasta and handed it to him.

Danny in turn pulled Lindsay close to him and nuzzled his face in her neck, kissing and nipping gently at her skin. Lindsay moaned softly, he was turning her on so much. Danny started to whisper in her ear,

"Why don't you go take a nice long, hot, relaxing shower and when you get out I will have a fabulous dinner waiting."

His voice sent shivers down her spine.

"Ok" was her response. She was amazed that she could string that word together. As she walked out of the kitchen, she was feeling a little braver, "Same you can't join me…" and she disappeared from view.

Damn, Danny thought. If his stomach hadn't been rumbling constantly since they got off the couch, he may have taken her up on that offer. He heard the water start in the bathroom, and he figured that he have just over a half an hour to get dinner on the table. So for now, he'd have to think of very manly things to get him through, then maybe…

Lindsay stepped into the steamy shower and stood underneath it, enjoying the feeling of the water pelting on her skin. She didn't realize how tense she was, even with all of Danny's attention, until now. Danny had been right, the shooting range had taken a lot out of her today, but it had also taught her several things. Things like she was stronger than she thought she was, that she could now protect herself if she had to, but most importantly, that she wasn't like those people who murdered her grandmother, and that she could never be.

She washed her hair, and stood underneath the shower head, letting the water massage her scalp while it rinsed all the soap out of her hair. She thought of the nap that she had with Danny on the couch, how waking up with him next to her felt so comfortable and so right. She wasn't kidding when she teased Danny about joining her, even though she did kind of feel like it was a bit soon to take that intimate step. They had only been dating for what, 2 days? Lindsay applied crème rinse to her hair and worked it into her hair. She washed herself while she let the conditioner condition her hair, and then rinsed completely off.

She turned the shower off, and opened the curtain. She reached for her robe and realized that it wasn't there. She had left it in her bedroom this morning after she had taken her shower. She couldn't believe how long ago that felt. She stepped out of the shower and reached for a towel, and wrapped it around herself. It covered her, mostly, she thought looking in the mirror. She wanted to leave something to Danny's imagination, adding the afterthought of until the time was right.

She opened the door and stepped out into the cool hallway. She crept towards the kitchen where she could hear Danny humming. She stood in the entryway to the kitchen and watched him for a minute. He was stirring something on the stove and then he turned around and dropped the spoon he was holding.

"Wha--" Danny said, as he bent to pick up the spoon, "Is everything ok?" He could hardly believe that she was just standing there, in a towel. A small towel. He could see exactly how creamy her skin was and how her chest rose and fell with each breath she took.

"Yes," Lindsay answered him, "I just wanted to see what smelled so good." She said as she turned slowly, excruciatingly slowly, and headed towards her bedroom.

Danny exhaled slowly, all the calming down that he had done while cooking dinner had gone out the window and he was once again, riled and needing. He began to plate their dinner, setting it on the table and lighting the two stick candles that she had there.

Lindsay came out of her bedroom wearing silky boxer like pajama bottoms and a silky camisole top.

"Danny this looks so good" Lindsay said as she sat down when Danny pulled out her chair, "And look at you all gentlemanly like."

Danny sat down next to her and handed her a napkin. They started eating and chatting about various things. Danny was slowly opening up to her, and letting her know more about his life and that made Lindsay feel honored. She knew he was not the open book kind of person.

Danny set his fork down and took a drink. He looked her deep in the eyes and leaned over to kiss her gently; he took her hand.

"Lindsay," he started, "Can I ask you something that may be a little personal?"

Lindsay was a little startled at this question, she didn't know what to expect.

"Sure, Danny," Lindsay answered honestly, "Anything."

"What do you dream about?" It was a question that he had been wanting to ask her since this morning. He wanted to know what had her so scared in her dreams.

"What do you mean Danny?" she said, she wanted to know where he was going with this before she answered. She didn't want to just blurt out that she had been dreaming about him since she first met him and he told her to call Mac sir.

"You talk in your sleep." He said cautiously, "and last night and today, you acted like you were having a nightmare."

"Oh" said Lindsay, avoiding his gaze, "that."

There was silence for a few minutes. Danny kept looking at her softly, hoping to coax it out of her.

"They're just dreams Danny," She said finally, "they don't mean anything, just my conscious working overtime."

Danny let it go for now, so that they could enjoy the rest of their dinner. Afterwards, they both curled up on the couch to watch a movie, and before they knew it they were both sleeping again.

Danny was awoken by the sounds of Lindsay crying out yet again in her sleep,

"Stop – Make it Stop" Lindsay said softly.

Danny hugged her closer to him and whispered calming words in her ear. Please let me in Lindsay, he thought, Please let me in.


	15. Sense of Belonging

_**A/N: Same disclosures apply as in all previous chapters…Please enjoy reading and review…**_

Chapter 15

**A Few Days Later…**

Mac and Stella watched Danny and Lindsay walk into the lab, together, the next morning and smiled knowingly at each other.

Throughout the day, other people in the lab picked up on Danny and Lindsay's change of attitude towards each other. While they still bickered, it was in a more relaxed way.

Danny brought Lindsay some Starbuck's coffee while she was working on running names of suspects in her current case. She gave him a grateful look as she took it from him.

"Thank you so much Danny." She took a big sip.

"I figured you could use it," He said as he leaned against the desk, "since I know you didn't sleep real well last night. Dreams again…" The last part was said more quietly. Danny and Lindsay had been inseparable for the last few days. Last night, Lindsay had stayed at Danny's place. This was the first relationship that Danny could remember where he was just content to sleep with someone without being sexually intimate.

"Danny…" Lindsay said, trying to think of something else to say.

Danny reached over and squeezed her shoulder, wanting to kiss her but realizing that at work, it's offlimits.

"It's ok Lindsay," He said softly, "I know you'll tell me when you're ready."

Lindsay looked at him, her mouth slightly open, as if to fire back at him that there was nothing wrong, but she stopped and closed her mouth. Instead she nodded and then went back to her work, while he walked out in the hallway to talk to Flack, probably about the case that he was working.

Stella walked into Mac's office.

"Have you seen Danny and Lindsay today?" She asked, sitting down.

"Yeah, why?" Mac asked, barely looking up from the file he was reading.

"Hello…Earth to Mac." Stella said sarcastically, "They haven't been fighting and he hasn't called her Montana once all day long. I think there's something going on."

"Stella, ever the observer." Mac said chuckling, "What's going on with them now? Still think they're seeing each other?"

"Yeah I do…" Stella said, trailing off slightly.

"Like I said before, I'm sure if something is going on, they'll tell us when they're ready." Mac said, "Now, where are we on this case?" He smiled at her.

"Mac, let's have dinner." Stella said, taking a chance, "Let's get out of this lab, go out to dinner, and talk about something other than a case." She had thought about it long enough. If Danny and Lindsay could find happiness together, or at least common ground to get along, she could try to get out of this dance that she and Mac had been doing for years.

"Stella…" Mac started, but then changed his mind, "Sure, I would love to have dinner." He said nodding and then they proceeded to discuss the case before leaving.

Lindsay peered into the layout room, where Danny was going over some photos,

"I'm ready to go if you are." She said to him, as he looked up at her, "I'm starving." Danny had driven them both today, it was just easier then running Lindsay home to get her car, meeting up at the lab, only to drive back an apartment to be together again.

"Give me two minutes to put my stuff away." Danny said smiling at her. He watched her walk into the room and take a seat in a chair nearby.

She watched him move around the room fluidly. She had no idea how she was going to tell him about the dreams, or even if she could. She usually didn't remember exact details, only that there was always a dark shadow threatening her, and no matter how fast she ran or how hard she fought back, it started to overtake her. Danny was always there, however, was always there to chase it away and make her safe again. She just wished she could figure out what the black cloud was.

"Lindsay, you ready?" Danny was standing in front of her, holding out his hand.

"Very much, Sir." Lindsay said, accepting his hand, and then intertwined her arm with his as they walked out of the building.

When they reached his apartment, Lindsay went into the bedroom to change into some more comfortable clothes, choosing a pair of cotton shorts and a tank top. She walked back into the living room/dining room area of the apartment.

He smiled at her, she always looked so good in relaxing clothing and tonight was no different. He felt himself become aroused at the sight of her, and while he was content with just sleeping with her, he wanted to show her how much he cared for her and how much she meant to him. He watched her walk all the way over to him, and he reached out to her as she closed the gap between them.

Their lips met and it was as if all the oxygen was sucked out of the room. Their lungs were burning when their lips broke apart, and Lindsay laid her head on his chest.

"This is so nice." Lindsay said, as she breathed in his scent, "Now, like I said at the lab, I'm starving. What's for dinner?"

Danny laughed and kissed her head.

"How about cheeseburgers ala Messer?" Danny said, looking at her questioningly.

"With French fries?" Lindsay ask smiling, "and salad? I'll help…" she added.

"Sure," Danny said, "as long as you'll help." He smiled at her, and then they went into the kitchen to start cooking.

**An hour later**

Danny and Lindsay were sitting at his dining room table, enjoying a nice meal of cheeseburgers ala Messer, tossed salad, and French fries. They were talking about random things in their lives while they ate.

"So you have never gone camping?" Lindsay asked, totally surprised. Lindsay found it hard to believe that he had never gone camping when her family went at least once every summer for as long as she could remember. She just always assumed it was something every family did.

"Nope," said Danny, munching on a fry, "Dad was always too busy, and mom, well mom didn't go anywhere without Dad." He shrugged. "Can't remember ever wanting to go, something about sleeping on the dirt and in the middle of nowhere never really appealed to me. I don't really think I missed too much."

"Want to know what I always wanted to do living in Montana?" She asked him.

"Lemme guess…" Danny said smiling, "Save the world?" He was rewarded with a playful slap to the arm.

"No, I mean something you could actually do." She said, smiling at him, "I've always wanted to--" she was interrupted.

"Do me? Well Lindsay, I'm flattered." Danny said holding his hand to his chest.

"Well, that too." She said, the color flushing her cheeks, "But I've always wanted to go and do the whole "New York City" experience."

Danny gave her a quizzical look.

"You know, visit the Statue of Liberty, go to the Empire State building, visit Times Square…" Lindsay trailed off.

"Ah, that." Danny said shaking his head, "Maybe if we get a day off together again, we'll do something like that. It would be nice to see something through fresh eyes."

"Yeah, I'll show you fresh eyes, Danny Messer." Lindsay smiled, and leaned over to kiss him softly. She then picked up their plates and took them to the kitchen. Danny followed her in, and wrapped his arms around her waist, nuzzling in her neck.

"Leave them for morning." He growled softly into her neck.

Lindsay moaned, and leaned back into him. Danny pulled her closer into him and Lindsay moaned louder. Danny's hands slid under Lindsay's top, caressing Lindsay stomach gently. His finger tips of his right hand played gently along the top of her pants, while the left hand moved upward slightly. Danny suddenly spun Lindsay around, kissing her on the lips and lifting her off of her feet. She wrapped her legs around his waist instinctively. He carried her to the couch, and set her down gently.

"Danny…" Lindsay moaned loudly.

His name rolling off of her lips set him off further. He moaned into her neck, he could feel the heat radiating off of her. Her lips felt so good, her skin was so soft, and she smelled that wonderful Lindsay smell.

"Danny…" Lindsay moaned again, "Oh…my…Danny…." Lindsay couldn't remember anyone ever making her feel this alive. She wanted him bad, she slowly and gently raked her nails up his back leaving faint red lines. She tried to adjust her position slightly to allow her to kiss his neck and shoulders.

They broke apart to allow Lindsay to pull Danny's shirt over his head, revealing his toned and muscular chest to which Lindsay scraped her nails lightly over causing him to shiver. She traced his tattoo lightly with one hand next, it was one of the most electrifying things that Danny had ever experienced.

"Danny," Lindsay whispered in his ear, "Show me your bedroom."

Danny looked at her, and she nodded. It was in that very moment that Danny knew he had found his soul mate, the person that he could want to spend the rest of the night with.

He picked Lindsay up, and kissing her, carried her into his bedroom, where they stayed the rest of night…

**The Next Morning**

Danny lay on his side, watching her sleep. Her breathing was soft and even. She looked so beautiful laying tangled in his sheets, their skin brushing occasionally. Danny couldn't remember ever feeling this way after becoming intimate with a woman, usually he didn't wake up next to her.

Lindsay opened her eyes slowly,

"Hey there Sleeping Beauty," Danny said to her softly, "How did you sleep?" He was smiling.

Lindsay yawned and stretched, she smiled back at him.

"Great. I slept great." Lindsay said, then her smiled faded. "Danny"

He saw the shift in her face.

"Yes?" He pulled her in closer to him, "What is it Linds?"

"You're never going to talk to me again are you?" Lindsay said solemnly, starting to rise from the bed.

Danny pulled her back down and looked her straight in the eyes.

"Why would you even say something like that?" Danny said, slightly alarmed, "I'm not leaving you anytime soon Lindsay Monroe."

"I didn't have the dreams last night." Lindsay said suddenly, "I think I know what they were about now."

Surprised at her change of subject, Danny was curious and couldn't help but asking.

"What do you think they were about?"

"I think I was afraid of not belonging here, of not finding happiness, friends, love…" she trailed off, "I was afraid I wouldn't be able to make it here." She snuggled into his naked body and started tracing his tattoo again absentmindedly. "But just like in my dreams, you were there to show me I was wrong. You were there for me."

"And I always plan to be," Danny said, kissing the top of her head, "I think I love you Lindsay Monrow."

"I think I love you too Danny Messer." Lindsay said, tipping her head up to kiss him on the lips, a replay of last night had started to ensue.

As Danny and Lindsay became lost in each other once more, Lindsay finally knew, she had found her sense of belonging, not only in New York, but also in the arms of Danny Messer.

**_A/N: Sorry if this seemed like it ended quickly, but never fear, I might do a sequel, if there is enough interest. I was having a really hard time focusing on this fic, because all I could do it come up with ideas for the other one I have ongoing (or others that have yet to be written!). Hope you all enjoyed, if you would like a sequel, I would love to hear where you would like it to go…_**

Again, Please Review!


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